
QassJXfiJZl 



Book > lA 7. 



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MARIA THERESA 




MARIA THERESA 

AFTER A PORTRAIT BY MARTIN VON MEYTENS 



MARIA THERESA 



BY 

MARY MAXWELL MOFFAT 

AUTHOR OF " QUEEX LOUISA OF PRUSSIA" 



WITH TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS AND TWO MAPS 



NEW YORK 
E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY 

31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 
1911 



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TO 



ROBERT MAXWELL MOFFAT 



PREFACE 

ONLY by keeping in view the essential difference 
between history and biography is it possible to 
convey any clear idea of the life of Maria Theresa 
within the limits of a single volume; for she belongs not 
only to Austria and Hungary, but to the Empire and to 
Europe. The standard history of her reign, by Alfred von 
Arneth, runs to ten quarto volumes. And the word " reign " 
is so literally interpreted, that the reader is plunged almost 
at once into her struggle to maintain herself on a throne to 
which she did not succeed until she was twenty-three. Other 
historians have given a little more attention to the first 
period of her existence. Travellers and memoir writers 
contribute a few facts. But the most trustworthy descrip- 
tions of the young Maria Theresa are to be found in 
diplomatic documents — dispatches sent to their own Govern- 
ments by ambassadors to the Court of Vienna. 

In the later stages of her career, her letters are the 
best commentary on her life and the fullest revelation of 
her character. Though brought up on conventional lines, 
she soon abandoned the stiff epistolary style of her day, 
and wrote, as she spoke, easily, directly, and forcibly. 
Through the medium of her letters we may still come 
into touch with one of the most human and attractive 
personalities of the eighteenth century. We can listen to 
her own account of her likes and dislikes, her joys and 
sorrows, and realize more vividly than would otherwise be 
possible the peculiar interest of her family relationships. 
Marriage with her hero was but the beginning of a new 
chapter in a romance that opens in her childhood, while 



viii MARIA THERESA 

her later life derives much of its interest from her deter- 
mination to share her power with her gifted eldest son. 1 

Some overlapping of history is inevitable in the bio- 
graphy of one who gave her name to an historical epoch. 
In such a connection it is, however, of more importance to 
obtain a glimpse of international events from the point of 
view of the contemporary than from that of the present-day 
critic. For this reason frequent reference has been made 
to the political cartoons of the period, and two of them are 
reproduced by way of illustration. 

The main narrative has been kept free from details con- 
cerning the pedigree of the heroine. But the leading 
representatives of the Habsburg dynasty and the turning- 
points of Habsburg history are touched upon in the Genea- 
lo gi cal Intro duction . 

Occasional quotations from authorities on eighteenth-cen- 
tury history have been fully acknowledged in the footnotes. 
But I am under special obligation to Messrs. Macmillan and 
Co. for permission to include passages describing the Em- 
press-Queen's administrative and educational reforms from 
the volumes on Maria Theresa and Joseph I/, by Dr. 
J. Franck Bright, in the Foreign Statesmen Series. 

My thanks are due to Dr. Henrik Marczali, Professor of 
History in the University of Budapest, and to Dr. Rudolf 
Payer von Thurn, of Vienna, for personal interest in my 
work and helpful suggestion in its earlier stages. In con- 
nection with the very interesting subject of the founding 
of the Medical School of Vienna, I am indebted to Dr. W. 
Bulloch of the London Hospital, for guidance to the chief 
sources of information for the work of Van Swieten, De 
Haen, and others; and to Dr. R. D. Maxwell for a valuable 
introduction to the Library of the Royal College of Sur- 
geons. I would also like to take this opportunity of thank- 
ing my friend, Miss E. M. Cooper, for a careful revision 
of the whole manuscript. 

1 Almost without exception the letters included in the present volume are 
translated into English for the first time. 



CONTENTS 



Genealogical Introduction . . ... xiii 

CHAPTER I 
The Makeshift Heiress . . . . . i 

CHAPTER II 
Charles VI and Elizabeth of Brunswick . • • 7 

CHAPTER III 
The Childhood of Maria Theresa . . . . 14 

CHAPTER IV 
Francis of Lorraine on his Travels ... 34 

CHAPTER V 
The War of the Polish Succession, and the Marriage of 
Maria Theresa . . . . . . 47 

CHAPTER VI 
Maria Theresa as Duchess of Lorraine and Grand 
Duchess of Tuscany. Death of Charles VI . . -57 

CHAPTER VII 
The Accession of Maria Theresa. Invasion of Silesia by 
Frederick of Prussia. Birth of the Archduke Joseph . 70 

CHAPTER VIII 
Defeat of the Austrian Army at Mollwitz. Coronation 
of Maria Theresa at Pressburg . . 88 

CHAPTER IX 
The Invasion of Austria by France and Bavaria. Maria 
Theresa's Appeal to the Hungarian Diet . . . 103 

CHAPTER X 
Maria Theresa and Count Silva-Tarouca . . . 119 

CHAPTER XI 
The Price of the Deliverance of Vienna. British En- 
thusiasm for Maria Theresa. The Elector of Bavaria 
becomes King of Bohemia and Emperor Charles VII. 
The Invaders of the Danube Valley repelled by 
Khevenhuller . . . . . . 125 



x MARIA THERESA 

PACE 

CHAPTER XII 
The Tables turned on the French, Bavarians, and 
Spaniards. Maria Theresa's Coronation as Queen of 
Bohemia. The Marriage of her Sister to Prince 
Charles of Lorraine . . . . 136 

CHAPTER XIII 
The Success of Maria Theresa's Army in the Campaign of 
1744. The Death of Princess Charles of Lorraine . 147 

CHAPTER XIV 
The Death of "The Bold Bavarian." Frederick's Victories 
at hohenfriedberg and sohr. the election of francis 
of Lorraine and his Coronation as Emperor at Frank- 
fort . . V . . . . . 154 

CHAPTER XV 
The End of the Great War . . . . 165 

CHAPTER XVI 
Maria Theresa and Haugwitz. The Administrative and 
Military Reforms . . . . . 172 

CHAPTER XVII 
The Imperial Household in 1748 . . . . 181 

CHAPTER XVIII 

Maria Theresa's Capital . . ... 194 

CHAPTER XIX 

The Educational Reforms of Maria Theresa and Van 
Swieten . . . . ... 202 

CHAPTER XX 

Music and Morals . . . . 212 

CHAPTER XXI 
Maria Theresa and Kaunitz. The Proposed Alliance 
between Austria and France . ... 222 

CHAPTER XXII 
Outbreak of the Seven Years' War. The Change of 
Alliances. The Battles of Prague and Kolin . . 228 

CHAPTER XXIII 
Political Cricket, or the last stages of the Seven Years' 
War . . . . . ... 241 

CHAPTER XXIV 
Family History, 1 760-1 763 . . ... 248 

CHAPTER XXV 
Joseph's Coronation as King of the Romans . . . 263 



CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTER XXVI pagk 

The Second Marriage of Joseph . ... 271 

CHAPTER XXVII 
The Marriage of Leopold and Death of Emperor Francis 279 

CHAPTER XXVIII 

The New Co-regency . . . ... 286 

CHAPTER XXIX 
The Elder Daughters of Maria Theresa . . . 297 

CHAPTER XXX 
The Fourfold Tragedy. Maria Theresa's Encouragement 
of Inoculation . . . ... 305 

CHAPTER XXXI 
The First Partition of Poland . ... 314 

CHAPTER XXXII 
The Younger Daughters of Maria Theresa . . . 319 

CHAPTER XXXIII 
The Diminished Family. The Death of Maria Theresa's 
First Grandchild and of her Older Friends . . 325 

CHAPTER XXXIV 
The Death of Van Swieten. Dissolution of the Company 
of Jesus. The Public School System. Abolition of 
Legal Torture. Variations of Kaunitz . . . 332 

CHAPTER XXXV 
Maria Theresa's Correspondence with her Children. The 
War of the Bavarian Succession . . . . 341 

CHAPTER XXXVI 
The Last Days of Maria Theresa . . . 353 



Conclusion 



359 



Bibliography . . . . • ■ 363 

APPENDICES I-I.V 
Genealogical Tables — 

I. The Habsburg Rulers of Spain and Austria . . 367 
II. and III. The Habsburg -Lorraine Branch of the 

Austrian Dynasty . . . ... 368 

IV. The Austrian Connection with the House of 

Brunswick . . . ... 370 



Index 



37i 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Maria Theresa ..... Frontispiece 

After a portrait by Martin von Meytens. page 

Charles VI . . . . . . . . 4 

From a portrait by Auerbach, in the Imperial Art Museum, Vienna. , 

(Photo, J. Lowy.) 

Elizabeth Christina of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel . . . , 12 

From an engraving in the Imperial Library, Vienna. 

Maria Theresa at the Age of Three . . . . 16 

Reproduced, by permission, from a portrait in the Hofburg, Vienna. 

Francis of Lorraine ._ . . . . . 40 

After a portrait by Richardson, painted during the Duke's visit to England in 1735. 

Prince Eugene . . . .... 58 

From an engraving in the Imperial Library, Vienna. After a portrait by Van Schiippen. 

Count Emanuel von Silva-Tarouca . . ... 122 

Reproduced from an original portrait, by permission of Count Franz Joseph von 
Silva-Tarouca. 

"The Cardinal's Masterpiece," or "The Raree Show from 

Prague" . . . . ... 130 

From a political cartoon in the British Museum. 

Maria Theresa . . . . ... 144 

From a print in the British Museum. This portrait was on sale in London during 
the War of the Austrian Succession. 

Charles VII . . . . ... 154 

From an engraving in the Imperial Library, Vienna. 

Bartenstein . . . . . ... 174 

From a print in the Imperial Library, Vienna. 

Vienna, showing the Church of St. Charles Borromeo, and the 

Ancient Fortifications . . ._ ... 196 

From a painting by Van Vittel, by permission of Lord Ribblesdale. 
(Photo, Art Journal.) 

Gerard Van Swieten . . _ . ... 204 

From an engraving in the Imperial Library, Vienna. After the portrait by P. Fendi. 

GLUCK . . . . . ... 216 

After the portrait by F. S. Duplessis. (Photo, Berlin Photographic Company.) 

Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz . . . ... 222 

From an engraving in the British Museum. 

"The Cricket Players of Europe" . . ... 242 

From a political cartoon in the British Museum. 

Marshal Lacy . . . . ... 292 

From an engraving in the Imperial Library, Vienna. 

Joseph II and Leopold of Tuscany . _. . . . 328 

From an engraving in the British Museum of the portraits painted in Rome, 1769. 

Maria Theresa in later Life, with her Autograph . . 341 

From an engraving. 

The Maria Theresa Monument, Vienna . ... 360 



MAPS 

Europe in 1740, with indication of the changes caused by the 
Prussian Acquisition of Silesia and the First Partition of 
Poland . . . . . ... 70 

Central Germany, to illustrate the War of the Austrian Suc- 
cession and the Seven Years' War . . 90 



GENEALOGICAL INTRODUCTION 

GENEALOGISTS who do not shrink from entering 
the region of conjecture, maintain that the original 
ancestors of the House of Austria may be dis- 
covered amongst the patrician families of ancient Rome. 
But attempts to connect with the first Roman Empire the 
dynasty which played so conspicuous a part in the second or 
mediaeval Roman Empire, are manifestly associated with the 
theory that the later institution was simply a revival of the 
earlier one. For those who held this view there was nothing 
final in the overthrow of the Western Empire in A.D. 476. 
It was merely in abeyance till that Christmas morning of the 
year 800 when, in the ancient basilica of St. Peter, Pope 
Leo III placed an imperial crown on the head of Charle- 
magne, King of the Franks, and the new monarch was 
hailed as the successor of the Caesars. 

The Emperor afterwards stated that the action of the 
Pope had taken him by surprise. But it has been suggested 
that he would hardly have induced so many of the great 
nobles and ecclesiastics of his realm to assemble at Rome if 
he had not expected something out of the common to occur 
during his sojourn in the city. Looking back, it seems as 
if the group of temporal magnates must have been strangely 
incomplete if it did not include a representative of those 
dukes or counts of Alsace, who were the probable forefathers 
of the Austrian emperors. 

The first undoubted Habsburg ancestor, Guntram, Count 
of Alsace and of Breisgau, in Northern Helvetia, appears in 
history about 930. He was surnamed The Rich, because of 



xiv MARIA THERESA 

the number of armed followers he had brought to the sup- 
port of the German king, Henry the Fowler, when that 
monarch was striving to deliver the south-eastern part of 
his country from invading Wends and Hungarians. At the 
present day Henry the Fowler is chiefly known as the king 
in Wagner's Lohengrin. Yet he was no mere legendary 
character, but a very notable captain of the Teutonic hosts. 

A grandson of Guntram, Werner, Bishop of Strasburg, 
began to build the first cathedral of that city in I o 1 5 . The 
superstructure was destroyed by fire, but on its foundation 
was erected a portion of the stately minster which is still 
the glory of Strasburg. Werner also built the fortress on 
the summit of the Wiilpelsberg, that has been described as 
"the cradle of the Habsburgs." Its one remaining tower 
may easily be visited by the traveller between Basle and 
Zurich who turns aside from the main road, or railroad, at 
Brugg. Even the tourist who passes onward at express 
speed can scarcely fail to note the commanding position of 
this eleventh-century stronghold. According to legend, the 
advantages of its site were discovered by Werner's brother, 
Radbot, when he was searching for a lost hawk. Hence the 
fortress was called Habichtsburg (Hawk's Castle). It be- 
came the chief residence of Radbot's immediate descendants, 
who were consequently known as Counts of Habichtsburg. 
In course of time the name was abbreviated into Habsburg. 

Meanwhile the way was being prepared for a transfer- 
ence of Habsburg activity from Western to Central Europe. 
One of the most famous achievements of Otto the Great, 
son of Henry the Fowler, was a decisive victory over " the 
excessively incursive Hungarians." 1 To safeguard the 
region from further encroachments he founded a mark, that 
is to say, a march or border state, under the rule of a 
margrave. This particular state was known in the first in- 
stance as the Ostmark, or eastern march. Later on it 
became Oesterreich, or Austria — the eastern part of the 

1 Carlyle. 



GENEALOGICAL INTRODUCTION xv 

German kingdom. A Bavarian nobleman, Leopold of Baben- 
berg, chosen to be the first margrave, was the founder of a 
dynasty of border chiefs. They rebuilt the fortress-city 
which had been the Roman Vindobona, the reputed scene of 
the cremation of the great Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It 
now became the Babenberg stronghold of Wien, or Vienna. 

Otto the Great was crowned Emperor at Rome in 962. 
In the course of his reign imperialism entered on a new 
phase. The theory that any potent European ruler was 
eligible for the office of emperor began to make way for 
the idea that " the Empire denoted the sovereignty of 
Germany and Italy vested in a German prince." 1 Yet the 
Empire, like the Papacy, was still regarded as a divinely 
appointed institution. From the time of Otto it was styled 
the Holy Roman Empire. 

Though German candidates for the Imperial throne were 
henceforth favoured by the Electors, there was no ab- 
solute disqualification of non-German competitors. In 1256 
Richard of Cornwall, brother of the English King Henry III, 
was chosen Emperor. He was installed as King of the 
Romans at Aix-la-Chapelle, but returned to England without 
having received the Imperial crown. During the fifteen 
years' reign of this absentee monarch the Empire lost all 
control over the destinies of other countries. In Germany 
itself the greater nobles extended and consolidated their 
power, till no future sovereign could do more than simply 
keep them in check. 

Richard's successor was Count Rudolf of Habsburg, a 
strong feudal chieftain with no lack of ambition, or of deter- 
mination to gain his ends, and no scruples about employing 
force if other means failed. But he had also a fair share of 
reasonableness and common sense. Violence for the mere 
sake of plunder he could not away with. He reduced to 
absolute subjection the robber barons of the surrounding 
region, thereby earning the goodwill of pilgrims and other 

1 Bryce, Holy Roman Empire. 



xvi MARIA THERESA 

wayfarers, who did not fail to spread his fame abroad. 
He protected the Swiss towns from the tyranny of the 
nobles; and even the mountaineers accepted him for their 
chief defender, with no thought of a future struggle be- 
tween their descendants and the Habsburgs of later days. 
There was never any dearth of men willing to serve under 
the banner of this Count of Habsburg, with his command- 
ing presence — he was over six feet in height — his record 
of military achievement, his simple habits, and cheery 
acceptance of the ups and downs of life. 

Towards the end of the year 1273 Rudolf was besieging 
the city of Basle, where certain of his kinsfolk had been 
treacherously massacred. To the camp there came in haste 
his nephew, Frederick of Hohenzollern, Burggraf of Nurem- 
berg, with the wholly unexpected news of the Count's elec- 
tion to the Imperial throne. The choice was due in part 
to Rudolf's ability, in part to the unlikelihood of the ruler 
of a small territory being able to force the Electors to dis- 
gorge any of their recent acquisitions. It is peculiarly 
interesting that the bearer of good tidings to the first 
Habsburg emperor was an ancestor of the future Electors 
of Brandenburg and Kings of Prussia. 

Against the prospective emperor the citizens of Basle did 
not prolong resistance. He was therefore able to hurry off 
to those coronation festivities at Aix, which Schiller de- 
scribes in his ballad, Der Graf von Hapsburg. In order 
to make the assembly a representative one, the poet intro- 
duces all seven Electors, though he was perfectly aware 
that the Elector of Bohemia was away, nursing his wrath 
because he had not been chosen emperor himself. 

To the north of Austria, and of the now partially de- 
veloped state of Hungary, two Slavonic kingdoms — Poland 
and Bohemia — had grown up and accepted the Christian 
religion. If there had been any desire to confer the Imperial 
dignity on the most powerful prince of the Empire, the 
claims of Ottocar, Elector and King of Bohemia, could not 



GENEALOGICAL INTRODUCTION xvii 

have been overridden. Not only in his own country, but 
also in Austria, Ottocar reigned supreme, for he had married 
the eldest sister of the Babenberg Duke, Frederick the 
Warlike, who died in 1246, leaving no male heir to succeed 
him. Although the Electors hesitated long over their choice 
of a successor to Richard of Cornwall, Ottocar had no doubt 
of his ultimate elevation. Great was his chagrin when the 
less formidable Rudolf was preferred to him. 

The Habsburg monarch began his reign with attempts 
to conciliate his disappointed rival. Ottocar, however, 
scorned all friendly overtures, declined to take the oath of 
fealty to the new Emperor, and began to seduce other 
princes from their allegiance. 

At the head of the Imperial army Rudolf besieged Vienna, 
and eventually forced Ottocar to cede the Austrian pro- 
vinces to the Empire, and to do homage for Bohemia and 
Moravia. This was in 1276. Two years later the King of 
Bohemia again took up arms to recover his lost territories, 
but he was defeated and slain in the Battle of Marchfeld. 
His son Wenzel was allowed to retain Bohemia as a fief of 
the Empire, and Rudolf gained the consent of the Imperial 
Diet to his claim that the Austrian provinces should hence- 
forward be the permanent possession of himself and his 
descendants. It was on this wise that he became the founder 
of the great Austrian state which, from that day to this, 
has never lacked a Habsburg to rule over it. 

Rudolf now felt himself free to make a vigorous effort 
to restore order in the distracted kingdom of Germany. He 
undertook long journeys, in the course of which he dis- 
pensed justice and enforced the laws which forbade the 
erection of strongholds not necessary for the safety of the 
Empire. By his command seventy castles were destroyed in 
one year. The marauding noble who fell into the Emperor's 
hands was as sure of the short shrift and long rope as any 
common bandit. That Rudolf did not meet with more 
opposition was largely due to the astuteness with which he 



xviii MARIA THERESA 

selected husbands for his six daughters. Whether actuated 
by transmitted tendencies or not, it will be seen that the 
later Habsburgs were also fully alive to any advantage 
which might be gained by matrimonial alliances. From 
Rudolf his descendants may likewise have inherited the 
clear mental vision that enabled them to know precisely 
what they wanted to' accomplish in life, and the tenacity 
of purpose which will move mountains rather than abandon 
a cherished project. 

Rudolf was succeeded, after a brief interval, by his eldest 
son. Albert I held the reins of government with all the 
firmness that had characterized his father, but he was devoid 
of the charm of person and manner whereby Rudolf " had 
fascinated persons of all ranks as if with a love potion." 
Overbearing in his behaviour and harsh in his methods, 
Albert confirmed the other German princes in the feeling 
of apprehension with which they had begun to regard the 
new rulers of Austria. This antipathy was shared by the 
Electors to the third and fourth generation. Not till a 
hundred and thirty-two years after the death of Albert 
was it found possible to elect another Habsburg emperor. 

During the interval of restricted power the Austrian dukes 
were seldom idle. Their attempt to substitute territorial 
possession for the Habsburg protectorate of the Swiss towns 
and cantons, led to the struggle with which is associated the 
name of William Tell. Before it was over the Helvetian 
domains of their forefathers and the cradle of their race 
were lost to the Habsburgs. 

Meanwhile, however, they had contrived to establish their 
supremacy over another mountainous land — the County of 
Tyrol. On the strength of this extension of territory Duke 
Rudolf V of Austria felt justified in assuming the title of 
Archduke. The highest of all titles was restored to the 
dynasty in 1438, when there was urgent need of a strong 
ruler to stem the tide of Turkish invasion. The reign of 
the third Habsburg emperor, Albert II, was only a matter 



GENEALOGICAL INTRODUCTION xix 

of months. But the Turks remained an ever-present menace 
to European liberty. When they had taken Constantinople 
in 1453, and put an end to the ancient Eastern Empire, the 
Electors were persuaded that there could be no better 
policy than to strengthen the hands of the Archduke whose 
dominions served as a barrier between Central Europe and 
the Oriental invaders. Henceforward the reigning Habs- 
burg had little difficulty in getting himself elected, and thus 
becoming the Emperor. From 1453 to the days of Napo- 
leon there was no other claimant of Imperial honours in 
Europe. 

The immediate successor of Albert II on the Archducal 
and Imperial thrones was his cousin, Frederick of Styria. 
Frederick III, as he was now called, was the first and last 
of his race to betake himself to Rome for coronation. His 
Polish mother is sometimes credited with having bequeathed 
to her descendants the exaggerated " Habsburg lip." If 
this be so, it is strange that the disfiguring 1 possibilities of 
the lip should have remained latent for three generations. 
Frederick himself and his son Maximilian I were men of 
attractive personal appearance. Maximilian's son was known 
as Philip the Handsome. It is in the children of Philip 
and Joanna of Arragon (the Emperors Charles V and 
Ferdinand I) that the over- development, not only of the 
lip, but of the whole lower jaw, becomes very manifest. 

A flavour of romance lingers about the story of the 
marriage of Mary of Burgundy to Maximilian I. With 
other leading incidents in the life of that vigorous and 
capable monarch, it is duly commemorated in the wonderful 
series of marble reliefs which adorn his monument in the 
Franciscan church at Innsbruck. Viewed in the light of 
after events, it might seem as if the children of that mar- 
riage were " sword and fire, red ruin and the breaking up 
of laws "; for the establishment of Habsburg supremacy in 
Burgundy marks the beginning of the long rivalry between 
Austria and France. A more serious obstacle to the ex- 



xx MARIA THERESA 

pansion of the latter country could not have been devised. 
To push back its north-eastern frontier became hencefor- 
ward a fixed object of the policy of the governors of 
France, whether kings or cardinals. It was a policy which 
transformed the heritage of the gentle Mary of Burgundy 
into "the cockpit of Europe." 

A portion of her duchy was seized by the French during 
the minority of her son, the handsome Philip. What re- 
mained to him became known as the Spanish Netherlands, 
for by marriage with Joanna, heiress of Ferdinand and 
Isabella, Philip of Burgundy became Philip I of Spain. 
Grief for his death in 1506 developed Joanna's tendency to 
mental derangement, and she was never more than a titular 
queen. The sovereignty not only of the Netherlands, but 
of Spain, with its dependencies of Naples, Sicily, and Sar- 
dinia, and with its claim to unbounded supremacy and 
wealth in the newly discovered Western world, devolved on 
Joanna's elder son Charles, whose minority ended at sixteen. 
Three years later ( 1 5 1 9) the death of his paternal grand- 
father, Maximilian I, made him, conjointly with his brother 
Ferdinand, governor of Austria and the allied states. The 
Imperial crown was added to the others, and the rich young 
ruler became the Emperor Charles V. Habsburg power had 
reached its apex. The quaint vowel motto, which Emperor 
Frederick III modestly regarded as suitable for Austria — 
Austriae est Imperare Orbi Universo 1 — acquired more sig- 
nificance than at any other epoch. 

Habsburg power suffered no diminution when Charles, 
recognizing the impossibility of one monarch governing 
the half of Europe, had abandoned Austria and its depen- 
dencies to his brother. Rather was it thereby increased, 
for Ferdinand had married the sister of Louis, King of 
Hungary and Bohemia, who was killed in battle with the 
Turks. He left no children, and his brother-in-law was 

1 There is a German version of the motto — Alles Erdreich ist Oesterreich 
Unterthan — All the world is subject to Austria. 



GENEALOGICAL INTRODUCTION xxi 

chosen to succeed him. Thus the government of Hungary, 
Bohemia, and the Austrian provinces came to be vested in 
a single ruler. On the death of Charles V this ruler became 
the Emperor Ferdinand I. In addition to his territorial 
possessions, he transmitted to his descendants a paramount 
claim to the Imperial dignity. 

No sooner were the two lines of Habsburg monarchs 
safely established on their respective thrones, than it became 
manifest that each desired nothing more fervently than to 
absorb the dominions of the other. By way of safeguarding 
claims to inheritance, they intermarried in every generation. 
In the case of the Spanish Royal Family this policy re- 
sulted in physical and mental deterioration. Its last repre- 
sentative was the half-imbecile Charles II. 

A similar fate would doubtless have overtaken the Aus- 
trian Habsburgs if, as in Spain, the crown had descended in 
one direct line. It happened, however, that the grandsons 
of Ferdinand I left no children. They were therefore suc- 
ceeded by their cousin, Ferdinand II, whose mother and 
wife were Bavarian princesses. 

Though the first of a series of events conducive to the 
well-being and longevity of the ruling dynasty, the accession 
of Ferdinand II, in 1619, was in other respects disastrous. 
It rendered hopeless the attainment of the leading object of 
the policy of his predecessors — a peaceful settlement of the 
religious controversies of the times. Nowhere had the 
Reformation movement advanced more rapidly than in 
Austria and Bohemia. In Hungary also it was making 
headway. Ferdinand I made a few concessions to the 
Protestants. His enlightened son, Maximilian II, granted 
full religious toleration in his hereditary dominions. With 
the cessation of strife had come the beginning of a period 
of prosperity and intellectual vigour. Ferdinand' I was one 
of the many correspondents of Erasmus, of whom he was 
ilso to some extent a pupil. For Erasmus had drawn up 
the plan of education which gave to this particular monarch 



xxii MARIA THERESA 

his unusual knowledge of the Greek writers. His Court 
became a chosen resort of the scholar and the artist. When 
Paracelsus had made Basle too hot to hold him, he betook 
himself to Vienna. He was well received by Ferdinand, 
to, whom he submitted the manuscript of his treatise on 
surgery. The Emperor realized the value of the work and 
paid for the printing of it; but he had no belief in the 
author's possession of alchemical power. " This Paracel- 
sus," said Ferdinand, " is one of the greatest of scholars 
and most shameless of liars " — a dictum which has never 
been seriously disputed. 

Art and learning met with no less encouragement at the 
Courts of Maximilian II and his son Rudolf II. The latter 
gave his name to the Rodolphine Tables, compiled at 
Prague by the Imperial mathematician and astronomer, 
John Kepler. Scientific men were specially, welcome to 
Rudolf, himself a man of considerable scientific attainments. 
But i£ was hardly possible for one so devoted to scholastic 
pursuits to be at the same time an efficient monarch. Both 
Rudolf and his brother Matthias were singularly incapable 
rulers. They withdrew many of the religious privileges 
which had been granted to the Protestants, and prepared 
the way for their cousin, Ferdinand II, by whom the in- 
fluence of the House of Austria was thrown definitely into 
the scale of the Counter-Reformation. To the Jesuits, by 
whom he had been educated, Ferdinand gave a free hand in 
his German provinces, and the extermination of Protestant- 
ism and original thought proceeded apace. It was useless 
to think of reducing the people to submission so long as 
their aristocratic overlords were in sympathy with the Re- 
formers, therefore in their dealings with the nobility the 
Jesuit watchword was " Thorough." " The ancient families 
of Austria, Styria, and Moravia became almost extinct. The 
really old Austrian names appear no more in history." 

With the accession of Ferdinand II is likewise associated 
the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War. By the time it 



GENEALOGICAL INTRODUCTION xxiii 

was over the Empire had become a mere aggregate of 
independent states under the nominal suzerainty of the Em- 
peror. The terms of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) 
made it possible for the petty rulers of German princi- 
palities to ally themselves with foreign Powers without re- 
gard for the interests of the country as a whole. From 
this circumstance the French monarchy derived untold 
benefit. In 1648 the reign of Louis XIV, which was to 
prove its epoch of greatest splendour, had already begun. 
The exhausted and divided Empire could no longer defend 
the Imperial states and cities on the left bank of the 
Rhine. Sooner or later they were certain to be absorbed 
by France. French ambition also coveted the Spanish 
Netherlands. Cardinal Mazarin resolved to obtain for his 
young King the hand of Maria Theresa, eldest daughter of 
Philip IV, and eventually to claim Spain and its provinces 
on her behalf, as she had no brothers. True, she would 
have to go through the form of renouncing all pretension 
to her father's dominions. That, however, was a promise 
which future diplomacy or a strong army might render 
null and void. As it happened the marriage brought no 
fulfilment of the hope of speedy succession. Philip IV died 
in 1665. But four years earlier his second wife gave 
birth to the feeble infant who now became Charles II of 
Spain. 

Needless to say the authorities at Vienna took no dead- 
letter view of the renunciation of the Queen of France. 
Charles V's provisions for future contingencies, confirmed 
by the wills of subsequent rulers of Spain, made it perfectly 
clear that there had never been any idea of a transference 
of the crown to another dynasty while a male Habsburg 
of either branch remained alive to inherit jt. Emperor 
Leopold I had no intention of foregoing his rights. He 
would fain have prevented the French King's annexations 
on the left bank of the Rhine, but two long struggles with 
the Turks and an intervening rising in Hungary taxed the 



xxiv MARIA THERESA 

resources of the Emperor to the utmost. If his enemies 
showed signs of waning hostility, emissaries of France 
stirred them up with promises of assistance. To keep 
Leopold busy in Eastern Europe was an important plank 
in the policy of Louis XIV. 

But that which chiefly favoured his designs was his 
ability to rely on the inaction of England during the reigns 
of Charles II and James II. The latter clung obstinately 
to his neutrality, in spite of urgent appeals for help from 
his son-in-law, William of Orange, who had no illusions as 
to what might happen if the barrier of the Spanish Nether- 
lands were no longer between Holland and France. William's 
accession to the throne of England in 1689 was a serious 
set-back to the ambition of Louis XIV. For England be- 
came the champion of the balance of power at the very 
time when the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the 
laying waste of the Rhine Palatinate had united Germany, 
and indeed the greater part of Europe, against France. 
Failure attended the various schemes for the restoration of 
James II and the overthrow of English sea-power. Con- 
sequently Louis reverted to his early project of securing 
the Spanish monarchy for the House of Bourbon. 

There was no longer any doubt that the throne of that 
monarchy would soon be vacant. To be free for operations 
as soon as Charles II had breathed his last, Louis con- 
cluded the Peace of Ryswick with Britain, Spain, Holland, 
and finally with the Empire. He restored some of his con- 
quests, including Lorraine, which had been occupied by 
the French since 1690. Duke Leopold of Lorraine was 
nearly related to the Emperor, 1 so Louis took the pre- 
caution of marrying him to a French princess. She was 
the daughter of the King's brother, the Duke of Orleans, 
and the celebrated " Lise-Lotte " of the Palatinate. 

1 The mother of the Duke of Lorraine was a half-sister of the Emperor Leopold. 



MARIA THERESA 

CHAPTER I 

THE MAKESHIFT HEIRESS 

ON May 1 3th, 1 7 1 7, the citizens of Vienna were astir 
long before dawn. Not a few of them, indeed, had 
been keeping watch all night beneath the walls of 
the Hofburg. This unpretending series of buildings had 
been erected from time to time to meet the needs of divers 
generations of Habsburgs. It was now the town residence 
of the Emperor Charles VI. 

Late on the previous evening it had become known in the 
city that the Imperial household was awaiting the arrival of 
no less a personage than an heir to the throne. Six months 
had passed since the death of the little Archduke Leopold, 
hitherto the only child of the Emperor and his consort, 
Elizabeth Christina of Brunswick. The birth of a second 
prince would, it was hoped, go far to console them for the 
loss which had thrown so deep a shadow over Court and 
capital. 

In those days of mourning there chanced to arrive in 
Vienna a newly appointed British envoy to the Porte — 
Edward Wortley Montagu by name. He was accompanied 
by his wife, the famous Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 
Travellers of such diplomatic importance found ready access 
to their Imperial Majesties. Lady Mary promptly fell in 
love with the Empress, whom she describes to one of her 
correspondents as "the most beautiful queen upon earth." 
Apparently the attraction was mutual, for the Ambassadress 
goes on to say, " I took leave of Her Majesty the day before 



2 MARIA THERESA 

I left Vienna, and she began to speak to me with so much 
grief and tenderness of the death of the young prince that 
I had much ado to withhold my tears. You know that I am 
not at all partial to people for their titles, but I own that 
I love that charming princess. And, if I did not, I should 
have been very much moved at the tragical end of an only 
son, born after being so long desired, and at last killed by 
the want of good management, weaning him in the middle 
of the winter." 

The death of one infant, the birth of another, and all 
that hinged on these occurrences, was doubtless discussed at 
length by the townspeople, who waited patiently in the 
growing light of the May morning. Their desire to be as 
near as possible to the scene of events could hardly be 
ascribed to affection for their extremely unemotional ruler. 
It was rather a demonstration of loyalty to the House of 
Habsburg, and of satisfaction at the prospect of its continu- 
ance. The welfare of the chief town of the Archduchy, of 
Austria had come to depend on its retention of the rank of 
Imperial capital. It was natural, therefore, that the Viennese 
should view with apprehension any possibility of a break 
in the long line of Habsburg archdukes. Since the Re- 
formation no Catholic prince, save Louis XIV, had been 
powerful enough to dispute their claims to the throne of 
Charlemagne. On the death of an emperor, the Electors 
met at Frankfort-on-lhe-Main, ostensibly to choose his suc- 
cessor. ! The result of their deliberations was, however, a 
foregone conclusion. 

Since Charles was the sole male representative of his 
dynasty, it would have been vain for any one to suggest that, 
in the year of grace 1 7 1 7, anxiety about the succession was 
premature. It would be granted that there was no apparent 
reason why His Majesty, aged thirty-two, should not live 
many years, and leave more than one son to safeguard the 
Habsburg interests. But then would follow a reminder that, 
not long ago, the same thing might have been said about his 
elder brother, Joseph I. Yet Joseph was only thirty-three 
when he died of smallpox. Who could tell that Charles 
might not be the next victim of a disease which was cer- 
tainly no respecter of persons?. Many a one too poor to 
pay for medical treatment recovered from its attack, where- 



THE MAKESHIFT HEIRESS 3 

as all the skill of the Court physicians had failed to save 
the late Emperor, although they had guarded him from 
every breath of injurious outdoor air, and kept him care- 
fully swathed in " twenty yards of English scarlet broad- 
cloth." 1 

Reference to Joseph's illness was apt to give rise to 
dispute. There were those who maintained that the course 
of the disease had not indicated a fatal termination. A 
current rumour ascribed the Emperor's death to poison, 
administered by. the Jesuits, with whom he was constantly 
at variance. But there were also upholders of the theory 
that he had been born under a particularly unlucky star. 
To its malign influence all the misfortunes of his life might 
be attributed, beginning with the horrors which took place 
during his childhood, when the Turks invaded the country 
and, in the summer of 1683, laid siege to Vienna. The 
general terror and confusion, and the dangers to which 
Joseph's father, Leopold I, and his family were exposed 
during their flight to Linz, made a deep impression on the 
boy's mind. His own reign did not begin until two-and- 
twenty years later, but one of his first proposals was a 
scheme for commemorating the relief of Vienna by the 
Duke of Lorraine, and John Sobieski, King of Poland. 
The guns abandoned by the vanquished Turks were to be 
melted down. The metal thus obtained was to serve for 
the casting of a gigantic bell, destined to hang in the 
tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral. 

The plan was duly carried out. But when the sound of 
the great bell was heard for the first time, Joseph's successor 
was making his state entry into the capital. Nearly eight 
years had elapsed since Charles, then a youth of eighteen, 
had set out for Spain with the intention of making good 
his claim to the crown of that country. He had perforce 
returned without it — had with difficulty, it was said, escaped 
from Barcelona in order to receive the Imperial crown 
which had so unexpectedly fallen vacant. 

Since the accession of Charles there had been fewer 
pretexts for merrymaking than was at all agreeable to the 
pleasure-loving Viennese. The forthcoming celebrations 

1 A curious foreshadowing of modern experiments in the treatment of small- 
pox by red light. 



4 MARIA THERESA 

were therefore looked forward to with eagerness. There is 
reason to believe that the anticipated announcement might 
have been made at an earlier hour of the morning |than 
half-past seven. It was the signal for the firing of cannon 
and the ringing of the many bells of Vienna. From all the 
region round about, people flocked into the city, and there 
was no lack of the outward and visible signs of rejoicing. 
But of genuine satisfaction there was not a trace. That 
which every one had refused to consider possible had come 
to pass. Instead of the wished-for archduke, a little arch- 
duchess had made her appearance on the scene. 

If the people were disappointed, the Emperor was still 
more so. As pawns in the great game of politics, prin- 
cesses could sometimes be used effectively. But it was 
disconcerting to have a pawn substituted for a possible 
king. A dispatch from the Venetian envoy, Grimani, to 
his Government indicates that those whom it behoved ,to 
congratulate Charles were at a loss to know what to say. 
" In the hearts of the Emperor and his subjects," writes 
Grimani, " grief and hope have been striving for the mas- 
tery. Now it would puzzle me to tell whether we are 
celebrating the birth of this princess or continuing the 
mourning for her brother, who was looked upon as one of 
Heaven's best gifts. However, I went with Monseigneur 
the Papal Nuncio to felicitate His Majesty according to 
custom, and to express the wish that the ensuing year might 
bring him more perfect consolation. He received us with 
his usual courtesy, but it was clearly to be seen that he would 
have been better pleased to be the father of a prince." 1 

Charles was very ready to assume that the fulfilment of his 
cherished hope was merely deferred. Still, the temporary 
situation made it needful for him to take a great many pre- 
cautions. Until the coming of the prince, who would set 
matters right, his daughter must be regarded as a sort of 
makeshift heiress of the Habsburg dominions, and treated 
with the honour due to her position. 

Accordingly the Emperor and his relatives proceeded in 
state to the crowded cathedral, where a specially arranged 
Te Deum was sung to the accompaniment of a full orchestra. 

1 Grimani's Dispatches. Archives, Vienna. 




CHARLES VI 



" OM A P ° RTRA " HV AUERBACH IN THE „, 

HE IMPER ' AL ™ MUSEUM, V, ENNA 



THE MAKESHIFT HEIRESS 5 

Charles had the true Habsburg love of music. If for once it 
failed to afford him the wonted pleasure, that, in the circum- 
stances, was not surprising. 

On the evening of the same day the christening of the 
new-born infant took place. The chapel of the Hofburg was 
too small for so important a ceremony. A temporary chapel 
was therefore arranged in the more commodious Rittersaal. 
By eight o'clock the Hall of the Knights had been com- 
pletely transformed. The light of many candles shone on 
costly tapestries which concealed the usual bareness of the 
walls. A musicians' gallery had been extemporized. Upon 
the altar were famous relics, which may still be seen in the 
Treasury of the Hofburg. To the water in the jewelled 
font had been added " five drops from the River Jordan." 

Drums and trumpets gave the signal for a stately proces- 
sion to pass into the Hall. Knights, privy councillors, and 
military officers were the first to enter. After them came 
Spinola, the Papal Nuncio, accompanied by the observant 
Grimani ; then the Emperor himself, in his gorgeous state 
apparel, followed by the two Dowager Empresses, his 
mother, the widow of Leopold I, and his sister-in-law, the 
widow of Joseph I. Next in order appeared Prince Liecht- 
enstein, the Lord Great Chamberlain, carrying on a cushion 
the tiny candidate for baptism. On either side of him 
walked a Knight of the Golden Fleece. Behind him came 
Countess Thurn, the newly appointed official Governess; 
then the daughters of Leopold and Joseph, giving place for 
the first time to the daughter of the reigning monarch. 
Other notabilities followed in their train. 

Then the service began, the Prince-Bishop of Vienna taking 
the chief part. The infant was transferred from the charge 
of Prince Liechtenstein to that of Countess Thurn, until it 
was time to hand her to her sponsors. These were the Pope, 
represented by Spinola, her grandmother, Eleonora of Neu- 
burg, and Amelia of Brunswick, the widow of Joseph. When 
the ceremony was over and the little Princess was carried 
back to her mother's apartments, she had received the names 
of Maria Theresa Walburga Amelia Christina. " So many 
names for one poor child," but four of them were promptly 
discarded for the time being. During her girlhood she was 
known simply as the Archduchess Theresa. 



6 MARIA THERESA 

From her sponsors she received the usual gifts of costly, 
relics and jewels, but no accession of strength or helpfulness. 
The papal sponsorship was a formal distinction. Her 
grandmother was nearing the end of a life of " violent 
devotion, a perpetual performance of extraordinary acts of 
penance without having done anything to deserve them." 1 
As for the Empress Amelia, she was not likely to show 
herself sympathetic to the girl who must needs be preferred 
to her own daughters. Had the welfare of the new-comer 
been dependent on her avowed sponsors, her outlook would 
have been poor indeed. But other influences were at work 
on her behalf. Almost it would appear as if those who 
had become chiefly answerable for her future were the near 
and distant ancestors from whom she had also received gifts 
— gifts of unusual variety and of infinite worth to one who 
had to find her way along untried and rugged paths, and 
who would seem at times to be set as a mark for all the 
arrows of outrageous fortune. 

1 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 



CHAPTER II 

CHARLES VI AND ELIZABETH CHRISTINA 
OF BRUNSWICK 

" A SOLEMN little Herr in red stockings " is Carlyle's 
/ \ description of the Emperor Leopold I, paternal 
JL JL grandfather of Archduchess Theresa. Scarlet stock- 
ings with black hose., doublet, and mantle was the ordinary 
garb of the Spanish grandee, and Leopold had as many ties 
with Spain as with Austria. His mother was the Infanta 
who at one time seemed likely to become Queen of Eng- 
land by marriage with the first Charles of the Stuart 
dynasty. When, in 1700, the last Habsburg king of Spain 
died without issue, Leopold claimed to succeed him as 
next of kin. But agents of the Emperor's cousin and 
lifelong rival, Louis XIV, had been working to purpose 
at Madrid. They had persuaded the deceased monarch, 
the feeble-minded Charles II, to set aside the will of his 
father in favour of the Habsburgs of Austria, and to be- 
queath his throne to Philip of Anjou, grandson of the 
King of France. 

Louis' acceptance of the succession for the Prince who, 
as Philip V, became the founder of the Bourbon dynasty of 
Spain, destroyed the balance of power in Europe, and 
menaced the peace and commerce of Britain and the very 
existence of Holland. As a safeguard of independence the 
Dutch had the right to occupy a line of forts on the 
southern frontier of the Spanish Netherlands. But in the 
crisis of 1700 the French King claimed the Low Countries 
on behalf of his grandson, and sent troops of his own to 
oust the garrisons from the barrier fortresses. Equally, 
aggressive was his attitude towards Britain. English ex- 
ports were prohibited in Spanish territories, and the son of 

7 



8 MARIA THERESA 

James II was acknowledged by Louis as James III, King of 
Great Britain and Ireland. 

England and Holland were therefore constrained to take 
up arms on the side of the Emperor. He had already begun 
the War of the Spanish Succession by sending Prince 
Eugene across the Alps to drive the French out of Northern 
Italy. The success of this move simplified Leopold's efforts 
to induce the reigning princes of Germany to join his 
Grand Alliance. The victories of the combined British 
and Dutch fleets determined the Portuguese to transfer their 
support from the Bourbon cause to that of the Allies. 
Thereupon Leopold made over his rights to the Spanish 
crown to his second son Charles. In 1703 the young 
Archduke set out for Lisbon by way of Germany, Holland, 
and England. At Windsor he was entertained by Queen 
Anne. He had assumed the title of Charles III of Spain, 
but his actual kingdom never extended much beyond the 
limits of Catalonia. With one exception, 1 the brilliant 
victories of the Allies were not gained in the Peninsula, 
but in Germany and the Spanish Netherlands, and were 
due to the military genius of Marlborough and Prince 
Eugene. 

Emperor Leopold died in the midst of the strife (1705). 
It had shown no signs of abating in 171 1, when Joseph I 
succumbed to physicians and " English scarlet broadcloth." 
But, when the Austrian pretender became the Emperor 
Charles VI, the Allies, who had been moving heaven and 
earth to exclude a Bourbon cadet from the Spanish throne, 
decided that it was futile to continue a war which might 
end in making the Habsburg monarch more dangerous 
than his rival. 

In somewhat precipitate fashion they sheathed their 
swords and there began the general scramble for advan- 
tages, which history calls the Treaty of Utrecht and German 
wit the Treaty of Unrecht. Thereby Philip V was left 
in possession of Spain and the Spanish colonies. Austria 
acquired the Duchy of Milan as well as Sardinia (afterwards 
exchanged for Sicily). There was also transferred to the 

1 The capture of Barcelona by Lord Peterborough. In this city the 
Habsburg - claimant of the Spanish throne held his Court. 



CHARLES VI & ELIZABETH OF BRUNSWICK 9 

Emperor all that remained of the Spanish Netherlands, 
which thus became the Austrian Netherlands. This arrange- 
ment gave Holland her desired bulwark against France, 
and saddled Austria with a white elephant of a dependency 
in place of the object of Imperial desire, namely, the annex- 
ation of Bavaria. The British gains included ,Gibraltar, 
Minorca, and a promise of freedom from commercial re- 
strictions in Spanish countries. 

Though obliged by the dissolution of the Grand Alliance 
to abandon the reality of a kingdom in Spain, Charles 
ceased not to irritate the Bourbons by " hanging on to the 
title with notable obstinacy." 1 They were likewise aggrieved 
by his retention of the Grand Mastership of the Order of 
the Golden Fleece. To this, however, his acquisition of 
the Low Countries, where the order was first instituted, gave 
a shadow of justification. 

The Emperor's consolation prize, the foothold in Italy, 
was one of the advantages which he had chiefly coveted. 
But the Netherlands, in lieu of Bavaria, was a bitter pill to 
swallow. Charles reflected gloomily on what might have 
been if Austria had had the foresight to make the first 
move, if he, and not the French pretender, had arrived in 
Spain in 1701, and if the over-hasty Philip had not married 
Marie Louise of Savoy the very same year. It was 1708 
before the authorities at Vienna, having selected a bride for 
Charles, sent her to join him in Spain. Meanwhile the 
birth of Philip's eldest son had made the Bourbon cause 
more popular than ever. 

When Charles at last received the wife who had been 
married to him by proxy, he had the grace to admit that 
he had been fortunate beyond his deserts. A conventional 
royal alliance was all he had looked for. He left Vienna 
with the understanding that he was to marry a Portuguese 
princess, but she died before his arrival in Lisbon. Shortly 
afterwards he formed an irregular connection with the beau- 
tiful Marianna Pignatelli, afterwards Countess Althan. But 
at head-quarters the search for a legal wife was continued. 
Charles professed himself willing to entertain the idea of a 
union with the clever, good-looking Caroline of Anspach, 

1 Carlyle. 



io MARIA THERESA 

who ultimately, became Queen of England. With her large 
ambitions and slender resources, Caroline must have been 
sorely tempted to comply with the one condition of marriage 
into the Imperial family. Very much to her credit was the 
refusal to abjure her Protestantism for personal advance- 
ment. 

Caroline's decision was, at the time, the subject of much 
comment. At the Lutheran Court of Brunswick-Wolfen- 
biittel, the wife of the Hereditary Prince sought to improve 
the occasion by remarking to her pretty fourteen-year-old 
daughter, " Lisabethc" 1 -en, I hope you would have been 
as true to your confirmation vow as Princess Caroline. If 
you are ever tempted to change your religion, you must also 
remember to obey God rather than man." 

The words were probably uttered with some apprehen- 
sion of coming events. The wife of the Emperor Joseph I 
was a Hanoverian princess. 1 Her relationship to the Wol- 
fenbiittel branch of the House of Brunswick made it not 
unlikely that reports would reach Vienna of the girlish 
loveliness and charming disposition of Princess Elizabeth 
Christina. In her family circle the latter kept her pet 
name of Lisabethchen, though inclined to be a tall rather 
than a " little " Lizzie. 

Whether or not the Hereditary Princess was prepared 
to hear that her eldest daughter had been suggested as a 
wife for the Habsburg king of Spain, she was certainly 
surprised and dismayed to realize that her father-in-law, 
the reigning Duke, had agreed to consider the project. 

Antony Ulric of Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel was a somewhat 
curious character to find on a ducal throne. He was not 
without ability or culture or piety — all of the superficial 
order. Sentimental romance and sentimental religious 
poetry flowed from his pen with equal readiness. But 
when the writer of ecstatic hymns had to deal with matters 
affecting his personal advantage or that of his family, his 
chosen counsellor was Mr. Worldly Wiseman. He was not 
a little perturbed by the likelihood of the duchy passing to 
his brother's sons. His own heir had nothing but daughters, 

1 In her case there was no difficulty about religion. The Empress Amelia 
was brought up in the Church of Rome, which her father had joined from con- 
viction. 



CHARLES VI & ELIZABETH OF BRUNSWICK n 

three in number. The old Duke determined that the bril- 
liant marriage proposed for the eldest should not be lightly 
declined. 

Like another ancient individual, Antony Ulric had 
" strange power of speech." He talked to his son until he 
extorted a reluctant consent to the scheme. Then he sum- 
moned his granddaughter and talked to her. To his sur- 
prise, his eloquence failed to convince her offhand that, if 
looked at from the right point of view, Catholicism and 
Lutheranism are seen to be different names for the same 
thing. Lisabethchen's mother was reproached by letter 
for " great imprudence " in making it possible for the 
child to doubt the force of his arguments. Evidently she 
must remain with her grandfather for a time. The letter 
concludes with the pious hope that " the Lord may make 
our Lisabethchen another Joseph, for whose sake the divine 
blessing and protection may be upon our House. Farewell, 
then, future Grandmother of Emperors!" 

Even with the girl entirely under his influence it took 
more persuasion than the old Duke had anticipated to 
induce her to consent to his wishes. Lisabethchen seemed 
to him like a child refusing a necessary dose of medicine. 
Grandfather would show her how easily it could be taken. 
They would both become Catholics. And so the matter 
ended. The public " conversion " was soon an accom- 
plished fact, and Princess Elizabeth Christina was welcomed 
to Vienna and the circle of her future relations. 

Nine years later, when her beauty had attained its full 
maturity, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was moved to write 
an enthusiastic description of Elizabeth of Brunswick. It 
can scarcely be exaggerated, seeing that other writers have 
borne similar testimony to the fascination of this Princess, 
though they had not Lady Mary's skill in portrayal. " I 
was," she writes, " perfectly charmed with the Empress. 
I cannot, however, tell you that her features are regular. 
Her eyes are not large, but have a lively look, full of sweet- 
ness, her complexion the finest I ever saw, her nose and 
forehead well made, but her mouth has ten thousand charms 
that touch the soul. When she smiles, 'tis with a beauty 
and sweetness that force admiration. She has a vast quan- 
tity of fine fair hair; but then, her person — one must 



12 MARIA THERESA 

speak of it poetically, to do it rigid justice. All that the 
poets have said of the mien of Juno, the air of Venus, come 
not up to the truth. The Graces move with her. The 
famous statue of Medicis was not formed with more delicate 
proportions. Nothing can be added to the beauty of her 
neck and hands. Till I saw them, I did not believe there 
were any hands in the world so perfect, and I was almost 
sorry that my rank here did not permit me to kiss them. 
But they are kissed sufficiently." 

A chronicler, who saw Elizabeth shortly before her be- 
trothal, comments on her look of childlike innocence. For 
innocence and ethereal beauty the Court at Barcelona and 
the sordid Spanish Succession War were a strange back- 
ground, and Charles himself a somewhat strange mate. 
He was only twenty-three, but his knowledge of life was 
considerable. Though a more imposing personage than 
his father Leopold, he was neither very tall nor very well- 
proportioned. During the reign of Queen Anne the print- 
sellers made her subjects familiar with the features of the 
Archduke for whom the great Marlborough was waging 
war. The author of Gulliver's Travels evidently had these 
portraits in mind when he described the Emperor of Lilli- 
put. " His features were strong and masculine, with an 
Austrian lip and arched nose, his complexion olive, his 
countenance erect . . . and his deportment majestic." In 
Charles the Habsburg lip was so pronounced as to interfere 
with the clearness of his speech, yet he could not be de- 
scribed as unprepossessing. He had accustomed himself 
without much difficulty to the preternatural gravity and 
ceremoniousness of a Spanish monarch. His air of apathy 
and inscrutability served him as a convenient mask. Once 
only was it completely thrown aside. The bewildering 
experience of being perfectly charmed by his own wife 
took Charles right out of himself. To Duke Antony Ulric 
he wrote: "Heartily loved Herr Grandfather, — Although 
on all sides I was told beforehand of the exceptional beauty 
and remarkable qualities of my angelic queen and consort 
(who is winning all hearts), yet now, when I have seen her, 
all that seems to me like a shadow which has vanished in 
the full sunlight. Words fail me to tell of my exceeding 
happiness and satisfaction. I shall be eternally grateful 




ELIZABETH CHRISTINA OF BRUNSWICK-WOLFENBUTTEL 



CHARLES VI & ELIZABETH OF BRUNSWICK 13 

to you for making it possible that this angel should become 
my queen. I only wish she had a consort worthy of her 
merits, but I will do my best to be to her a faithful 
husband. The treasure which has been committed to me 
shall be carefully guarded." 

This letter shows Charles at his high-water mark, and 
should be remembered to his credit. His idea of a faith- 
ful husband did not include breaking off his relations 
with Countess Althan, but there is no suggestion of any 
subsequent mistress. Elizabeth, on her part, became at- 
tached to her husband and resigned to the excessive for- 
mality of her existence. In a restricted sort of way her 
character developed. When Charles sailed from Spain to 
assume the Imperial crown, he announced to the Catalans 
that he had given them the most precious pledge for his 
speedy reappearance in leaving his consort behind as regent. 
It was certainly not his own fault that he never returned. 
He made vigorous preparations for carrying on the war. 
It was to no purpose. His allies had determined to abandon 
Spain to Philip V. An English squadron was sent to 
convey the Emperor's troops to Italy. When the Empress 
was taken on board one of the ships, " respect for a 
princess to whom they were sincerely attached alone pre- 
vented the Catalans from opposing the embarkation." 

Unaffected by the departure of the auxiliaries, Barcelona 
held out against the Bourbon army for many months. "The 
history of the eighteenth century furnishes no other ex- 
ample of a siege so long and bloody." The city was 
nearly reduced to ashes before it was taken in 17 14. It is 
not therefore surprising that Bourbon kings have never 
been popular in Barcelona. 



CHAPTER III 

THE CHILDHOOD OF. MARIA THERESA 

ON her arrival in Vienna the young Empress found 
her consort preoccupied with a document, which 
had just been drawn up at his instigation. It was 
to some extent identical with the family compact which was 
Leopold I's contribution towards the settlement of the 
Austrian succession. Two amendments had, however, been 
introduced by Charles. Endowed with more political acu- 
men than many of his predecessors, he perceived that the 
right of Habsburg rulers to divide their territories, giving 
to one son Styria, to another Tyrol and so forth, had been 
a source of weakness to the monarchy as a whole. It might 
even be used as a pretext by some future combination of 
European Powers, desirous to. parcel out the dependencies 
of Austria, as they, had already parcelled out those of Spain. 
The latest act of settlement was therefore made to assert, 
with peculiar emphasis, the indivisibility of the hereditary 
possessions of the Habsburgs. 

The other alteration effected by Charles VI had to do 
with the order of succession. It had always been recog- 
nized that, in the absence of male heirs, the dynasty might 
be continued in the female line. And Leopold I had de- 
creed that if his sons, Joseph and Charles, died without male 
issue, the daughters of Joseph were to succeed to the throne 
in the order of primogeniture. In the event of their death 
without children, their rights were to pass to the daughters 
of Charles. " At that time, however, the existence of two 
separate branches of the family had been contemplated, 
Joseph's at Vienna, that of Charles at Madrid, whereas 
since then Charles had succeeded to the whole Habsburg 
heritage and so might fairly claim that the case was 

14 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 15 

altered." 1 Consequently he reversed the original order of 
succession and gave the prior claim to his own daughters. 
In 1 7 1 3 they were non-existent daughters, and the change 
was a mere matter of phraseology. Yet it was precisely 
this stipulation which was destined to make all Europe hear 
enough, and more than enough, of " the Imperial bit of 
sheepskin." 2 

For several years the Emperor's privy councillors and 
near relations were almost the only persons who had definite 
knowledge of the provisions of the new act of settlement. 
To the Empress Elizabeth it must often have seemed a 
veritable instrument of torture. Her husband had a lively 
imagination for future disasters arising from his lack of direct 
heirs. As time went on he showed increasing proneness to 
dwell upon the subject till he was reduced to the lowest 
depths of despondency. The son, " born after being so long 
desired," was regarded by his parents with peculiar intensity 
of affection, and there was an element of despair in their 
grief for his loss. Not all their subsequent partiality for 
their daughter Theresa could entirely stifle regret that the 
healthy, vigorous child had not been a prince. This was 
especially the case when their third infant proved to be 
another daughter, the Archduchess Marianne. 

As for Theresa herself, she probably realized at a very 
early age that fate had dealt unkindly with her in not mak- 
ing her a boy. In a Court swarming with officials, many 
of them with no definite duties and strongly addicted to 
gossip, the nursery tends to become a forcing-house. Such 
it proved to the little Archduchess. Those responsible for 
her upbringing directed their first efforts to checking 
her natural restlessness and impulsiveness. They do not 
seem to have given heed to the early development of her 
mental faculties. So Theresa was suffered to overhear 
stories of princes and princesses who had the disadvantage 
of belonging to real life and figuring in questionable situa- 
tions. She heard her brother's death diversely accounted 
for. One theory associated it with blameworthy treatment 
of his foster-mother by the autocrat of the nursery. 



1 C. T. Atkinson, A History of Germany, 1715-1815, p. 79. 

2 Carlyle. 



16 MARIA THERESA 

Theresa's own future was a favourite subject of specula- 
tion; and, by way of variety, there were gruesome tales of 
ghosts, witches, and demons. It was a strange medley for 
a child's mind to work upon, and Theresa's mind worked 
incessantly, especially on occasions when the hard-and-fast 
rules of Court etiquette made silence and stillness impera- 
tive. At 'such times she became, to outward view, the quaint, 
demure little maiden represented in her portrait at the age 
of three. In this, her gown of blue and silver brocade 
trimmed with gold lace is a miniature reproduction of the 
garment of the fashionable Viennese lady, " a dress very 
inconvenient," 1 long in the skirt, excessively long in the 
waist, and with wide hanging sleeves. Her fair hair is cut 
short and smoothed away behind her ears, leaving fully ex- 
posed a forehead both broad and high, which overweights 
the chubby under-part of the face. The posture is stiff and 
unchildlike. The figure might almost be that of a marion- 
ette, if it were not for the wide-awake grey eyes. 

If such a posture were maintained for any length of 
time, Theresa might well be described as a " little mouse." 
For it was doubtless as applied to herself that she became 
familiar with a term of endearment, somewhat indiscrimi- 
nately used by her in after days. She soon learned to com- 
port herself with a good imitation of Imperial dignity, though 
her tendency to act on impulse was never entirely eradicated, 
and her Governess was kept in a state of apprehension lest 
it should manifest itself at some untoward moment. Never 
would she forget the day when, for the first time, the six- 
year-old Archduchess was taken to a window to watch the 
passing of the Corpus Christi procession. All went well 
until the Emperor appeared. Hitherto Theresa had only 
seen her father in the black hose and doublet and red stock- 
ings of ordinary wear. Delighted beyond measure with the 
magnificence of his state array, she clapped her tiny hands, 
and exclaimed in tones which could not fail to reach his ears, 
"Oh, what a fine papa! Come here, papa, and let me 
admire you." 

The crowd was hugely diverted, though neither then nor 
at any other time, was Charles seen to smile in public. Yet 

1 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 




MARIA THERESA AT THE AGE OF THREE 

FROM A PORTRAIT IN THE HOFBURG, VIENNA 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 17 

if he had no sense of humour, he was capable of deep feel- 
ing. There was no doubt of his sympathy with Duke Leo- 
pold of Lorraine, who lost his eldest son, Clement, just! 
about the time of that Corpus Christi festival of the year 
1723. The Duke could claim cousinship with the 
Imperial family, and had been the chief friend of the 
Emperor's boyhood. But it was not solely on this account 
that Charles grieved for the untimely death of the youth 
whom he had never seen. Although he had been careful 
not to admit it, he had come to look upon Clement as the 
future husband of his daughter Theresa. Everything, ap- 
parently, was in the Prince's favour. Current report testi- 
fied to his attractive appearance, his mental ability and his 
pleasant unassuming manner. His uncle, the Duke of Or- 
leans, was Regent of France. But as Clement had shown no 
undue partiality for his Bourbon relatives, his connection with 
the hereditary enemy of Austria would probably be over- 
looked. To the multitude he would be the popular grand- 
son of the Duke of Lorraine, who had come to the rescue of 
Vienna in 1683. 

After much hesitation the Emperor was brought to the 
point of inviting the Prince to complete his education at 
the Imperial Court. In the midst of the preparations for his 
reception came the news that Clement had been taken ill. 
A few days later it was known that smallpox had claimed 
another victim. 

From this time forward the marriage of the Emperor's 
Jder daughter becomes a question of European interest. 
Leopold of Lorraine saw no reason why his second son, 
Francis Stephen, should not now be regarded as the pro- 
spective husband of the Archduchess. Then everything 
could proceed as before. The plan found favour with 
Prince Eugene and other influential advisers of the Emperor, 
and they induced him to sanction the proposal that Francis 
should continue his studies in Vienna. As to the future, 
Charles refused to commit himself in any way. He had 
heard that Francis was more French than German in his 
likings, that he was not inclined to take things seriously. *£- 
It was also a drawback that he had not had smallpox ! The 
Emperor was willing to grant that a lad of fourteen might 
develop every desirable quality, but — some other alliance 



18 MARIA THERESA 

might prove more advantageous than a union with the House 
of Lorraine. 

Since Francis was to be received merely on approval, it 
was of the utmost importance that he should commend him- 
self to the Imperial family. His father, by word of mouth, 
and Prince .Eugene, *by letter, set vigorously to work to coach 
him for his part. In the presence of His Majesty, thiei 
Prince must restrain his natural liveliness. He must never 
take part in conversation unless expressly invited to do so. 
He must betake himself diligently to study. Above all, he 
must study the Emperor. 

The advocates of the marriage were confident that there 
would be only one interpretation of the presence of the 
Prince at the Austrian Court. Charles, for his part, persisted 
in believing that it is possible for a monarch to take decisive 
steps and cunningly conceal the traces thereof. His recep- 
tion of Francis of Lorraine was characteristic of the whole 
course of their relationship. The latter was to be lodged 
iin a wing of the Hofburg — a wholly unexpected distinction ; 
yet every one must pretend that there was nothing out of the 
common in his arrival. As a result of much contrivance, 
Francis was casually presented to the Emperor when the 
latter was on a shooting expedition in Bohemia. After that, 
what captious individual could say it was not perfectly 
natural that the young traveller should be invited to accom- 
pany his relative to Prague? There the Court had assembled 
for the ceremonies connected with Charles's coronation. 
Hitherto he had been satisfied with the rights and title of 
king of Bohemia, but, in 1723, political expediency sug- 
gested that he should receive the crown with all due 
formality. It is said that he was also influenced by a legend 
that no male heirs were born to unanointed, uncrowr^d Bo- 
hemian monarchs. Be that as it may, Charles took care to 
make it evident that he already had an heiress, who might 
one day be queen of the country. Archduchess Theresa had 
accompanied her parents to Prague; and, for the first time, 
a certain prominence was given to her appearances in public. 

It would be interesting to come upon some record of the 
first meeting between the boy of fourteen and the girl of 
six whom, in spite of her many suitors, he did eventually 
marry. At Prague they could do little more than take stock 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 19 

of each other. And when the Court was preparing to re- 
turn to Vienna, Francis contracted some slight ailment and 
had to be left behind. Later on, he made his way into the 
Imperial capital with a lack of observation quite in accord- 
ance with the Emperor's sense of the fitness of things. His 
Majesty was still contemplating the possibility of other mar- 
riages for his elder daughter. Nevertheless, he received. 
Francis with marked kindness, and gave much careful con- 
sideration to the selection of the men who were to be the 
guardians and associates of the inexperienced youth. To 
his own Lord Marshal, Count John Caspar Cobenzel, Charles 
confided the office of Master of the Household of the Heredi- 
tary Prince of Lorraine. Baron von Neipperg, 1 a military 
officer much esteemed by Prince Eugene, was to be the 
companion and friendly adviser of His Serene Highness. His 
tutors were Baron Pfutschner and Langer, an authority on 
legal subjects. 

Francis of Lorraine had none of the qualities of the stu- 
dent. At the same time, he had no lack of intelligence, nor 
of capacity to reach a fairly high level of general attain- 
ment. All that was needed was a tutor with some originality 
and force of character, who could interest him in subjects of 
study and help him to overcome his mental laziness. That 
neither Langer nor Pfutschner was the man to achieve this 
was very soon evident to the Duke of Lorraine, who had 
no illusions with regard to his Heir- Apparent. When 
Francis expressed entire satisfaction with his tutors, Duke 
Leopold wrote to Cobenzel, urging that the boy should be 
more firmly taken in hand. He expostulated with Francis 
himself, justly deploring his son's inability to write a decent 
letter, his want of political and legal knowledge, and his 
excessive love of pleasure, especially the pleasure of the 
chase. Finding that little attention was paid to his com- 
munications, the philosophic Leopold ceased to remonstrate. 
Overmuch condemnation of hunting would be indiscreet. 
It was the Emperor's favourite diversion. If His Majesty 
chose to be accompanied by Francis, was it altogether a 
matter for regret? Was not the Prince fulfilling, with more 



1 He was the grandfather of Count Neipperg, who became the second 
husband of Marie Louise of Austria, widow of Napoleon Bonaparte. 



20 MARIA THERESA 

success than had been anticipated, the purpose for which 
he had been sent to Vienna? His reception had indicated 
that he might be kept very much in the background. That 
was no longer a possibility. The handsome, well- grown 
youth, with his light-hearted, happy disposition and ingra- 
tiating manner, was soon on the best of terms with the whole 
Imperial household. He had the skill to adapt himself to 
the Emperor's moods, and could entertain His Majesty with- 
out overstepping the bounds of ceremonious observance. 
When Charles was absent, the Prince was only too willing 
to give the rein to the vivacity and volubility which delighted 
the Empress Elizabeth and her circle. The two little Arch- 
duchesses looked up to him with all the admiration of chil- 
dren for a good-natured elder brother. And when the 
gossip of the Court reached their ears, the younger sister 
was probably sorry that he could not marry them both. 

Soon after his arrival in Vienna there was renewed ex- 
pectation of the birth of an infant, who might perchance 
be the wished-for heir. Since 1720 Charles had lost no 
opportunity of interviewing the accredited representatives 
of his scattered domains. He had resolved to secure from 
each individual state the acceptance of his Act of Suc- 
cession, and a promise of help to enforce it in case of need. 
This self-imposed task was not a congenial one, and Charles 
was overjoyed to think that he might presently be in a 
position to abandon it. A religious man according to his 
lights, he became more assiduous than ever in his attendance 
at Church services, and gave heed to those who suggested 
vows, masses, and pilgrimages as a means of obtaining 
his heart's desire. As things fell out, he was only preparing 
for himself an increase of disappointment. The experi- 
ence of former years was repeated. From 1724^0 1730 
a third little princess (Maria Amelia) had her place in the 
Imperial nursery and in her father's schemes for matri- 
monial alliances. Then her short life came to an end, and 
no other child followed her into the world. This, however, 
could not be foreseen in 1724. Charles never abandoned 
his hope of a son, but he admitted the need of being pre- 
* pared for sudden emergencies, and the act which established 
his eldest daughter's right to the succession, in default of 
male issue, was made known to the world (December 6th, 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 21 

1724). Seeing that the business of which it took cog- 
nizance concerned the House of Habsburg and not the 
Empire as a whole, it had been possible for the Emperor 
to decide it without reference to the Diet. It was there- 
fore known as a Pragmatic Sanction. That the term had 
been used to describe former papal, imperial, and royal 
decrees was forgotten in the notoriety attained by the edict 
of Charles VI. It became the Pragmatic Sanction of history. 

When he had done all that in him lay to secure for this 
instrument the united support of his own subjects, Charles 
was still unsatisfied. He had persuaded himself that it 
must needs be accepted and if possible guaranteed by all 
the rulers of Europe, including the German potentates. 
Henceforward his appearances on the political stage are 
more suggestive of an indefatigable collector with a sub- 
scription list than a Roman emperor; only instead of re- 
ceiving contributions along with the signatures, he makes 
endless concessions in order to obtain them. In vain did 
his wisest counsellor, Prince Eugene, protest against sacri- 
fices for which there could be no adequate return, and 
reiterate his own conviction that " the Pragmatic Sanction 
could only be guaranteed by a full treasury and two- 
hundred thousand fighting men." Charles was not to be 
turned aside from his pursuit of shadowy advantages, al- 
though it ofttimes involved neglect of the real interests of 
his empire. 

Another kind of guarantee to which he attributed im- 
portance was a formal renunciation of all claim to the 
succession by each of his brother's daughters before her 
marriage was allowed to take place. The Emperor's elder 
niece, Maria Josepha, became the wife of the Hereditary 
Prince of Saxony. Her younger sister, Maria Amelia, was 
married to the Elector of Bavaria. 

It is characteristic of the man, who spent his days in 
evolving elaborate schemes for the safeguarding of his 
daughter's inheritance, that he did absolutely nothing to 
prepare her for the responsibilities of a great position. 
" The Future in its purpose vast paused, waiting her supreme 
commands "; but her father refused to turn and resolutely 
face the Future. To do so would have seemed to him 
nothing short of treason to his expected son and heir. 



22 MARIA THERESA 

When, therefore, Archduchess Theresa was promoted from 
the nursery to the schoolroom, she merely received the sort 
of education which was deemed sufficient for a princess 
who, like her sister Marianne, could not hold higher rank 
than that of consort of some reigning sovereign. Given 
the opportunity, she would probably have taken kindly to 
those studies in legal and political science for which Francis 
of Lorraine showed so little aptitude. History — the nearest 
approximation to such subjects — was the lesson to which 
she looked forward with greatest eagerness. But perhaps 
the fact that Spannagel, the history professor, was one of 
the more competent of her teachers, had something to do 
with this preference. Ancient history she read to him in 
Latin. And since Latin was the, official language of Hun- 
gary, she learned to speak it with considerable facility. 
Her letters testify to her ability to express herself freely 
and fluently in French and German, and she could also 
read and converse in Spanish and Italian. Beyond all 
doubt the Habsburg ancestors of the Archduchess had trans- 
mitted to her their gift of speaking with tongues. Seeing 
that she likewise inherited their love of music, it was no 
small advantage to inhabit the musical capital of Europe. 
With Caldara, a composer of eminence and choirmaster 
of the Imperial chapel, for a teacher, the pupil who had no 
fear of hard work came to be something more than an 
amateur musician. Her graceful dancing was due to the 
lessons of another expert, Lavassori, the ballet master of 
the Opera House. Geography and mathematics are also 
referred to before the list of Theresa's secular acquirements 
comes to an end. Though mentioned last, religious teach- 
ing had a prominent place in the curriculum. Her in- 
structor was Father Francis Vogel, of the Society of Jesus. 

She was happy in having a sister who delighted to be 
her . comrade and fellow-student. And both girls had a 
helpful friend in their Governess, Countess von Fuchs. 
Intercourse with this discreetly appointed guardian, and with 
the mother to whom they were strongly attached, was an, 
important element in the education of the Emperor's daugh- 
ters. To this they owed their charm of manner and some 
fostering of the finer potentialities of their nature. Theresa 
had also to thank her mother for whatever knowledge 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 23 

she possessed in youth of the trend of policy in the various 
countries of Europe, and the general condition of things 
in the lands which she might one day be called upon to 
govern. 

The sweeping condemnation of Viennese women by Lady 
Mary Wortley Montagu is evidently intended to be taken 
with a grain of salt. In her lively epistles to Pope and 
other friends they figure as dull, uninteresting creatures. 
If they are remarkable for anything it is for " the natural 
ugliness with which God Almighty has seen fit to endow 
them all generally." Their ridiculous style of hairdressing 
made their heads "too large to go into a moderate tub." 
Their whaleboned petticoats " covered some acres of 
ground." As a matter of course each of these sirens had 
two cavaliers dancing attendance on her — her husband and 
his proxy. Pope, in reply, surmises that Vienna is situated 
in "a free region of adultery." "It is inhabited by all 
nations," says Lady Mary in more thoughtful mood, as she 
noted the varied racial characteristics of the men and women 
crowded into the circumscribed area of the fortified city. 
Representatives of Eastern and Western civilization elbowed 
each other in the narrow streets. Eastern and Western 
ideas with regard to morality, occult science, and divers 
other subjects jostled one another in the minds of the 
citizens. Still, there is no reason to infer that, in the early 
eighteenth century, Caesar's wife was the only woman in 
Vienna whose character was above suspicion, or the only 
mother who desired that her children should learn to dis- 
tinguish clearly between right and wrong. 

The city which was the resort of all nations afforded 
exceptional opportunities for the exercise of linguistic ac- 
complishments. French fashions and the French language 
were at a discount at the Court of the traditional enemy of 
the Bourbon kings. But French was the native speech of 
the Prince of Lorraine, and this was reason enough for 
Theresa's rapid mastery of its idioms. Francis, on his 
part, made gallant attempts to express himself in German. 
Yet, though most of his life was spent in Austria, he never 
came to feel at home in the language of the country. His 
spasmodic efforts to overcome its difficulties resulted in such 
confusion of tongues that, according to a contemporary, 



24 MARIA THERESA 

" his French letters seemed to have been written by a 
German, while his German correspondence might have been 
dictated by a Frenchman with a meagre knowledge of 
foreign languages." 

France was the birthplace and the French Court the school 
of the man whose fame sheds greatest lustre on the reigns 
of Charles VI and his immediate predecessors. By origin 
he also belonged to Italy, and by choice to the Empire. 
This cosmopolitan connection he acknowledged by signing 
his name in three languages — Eugenio von Savoy e. As a 
younger son and an undersized, delicate child he was, in 
the estimation of his relatives, clearly marked out for an 
ecclesiastical career. Family influence gained him a .bene- 
fice and the title of Abbe when he was but seven years 
old, and though his heart was set on becoming a soldier, 
tutors did their best to educate him for the priesthood. 
Eugene had no distaste for learning, but to him it was 
primarily the means of access to books on military science 
and the histories of the great warriors of Greece and Rome. 
Unremitting attention to physical exercise overcame the 
tendency to weak health, albeit he remained small in stature 
and hopelessly unattractive in feature, save for a pair of 
exceptionally keen dark eyes. Persons whose motives would 
not bear close scrutiny learned to evade his penetrating 
glance. It is said to have been at the root of Louis XIV 's 
dislike of " the little Abbe " and refusal to let him follow 
his own bent. Vowing vengeance on France, Eugene be- 
took himself to Vienna and volunteered for service in the 
Imperial army. From Leopold I he received the commis- 
sion he coveted, and as captain of a regiment of dragoons 
he served under Charles of Lorraine in a series of campaigns 
against the Moslem invaders of Hungary. A chance to 
distinguish himself was all that Eugene asked of Fate. 
With phenomenal rapidity he won his way to the rank of 
general. When, in 1697, the Turks again became actively 
hostile, Eugene was appointed to command the forces sent 
to oppose them. By his victory at Zenta he crippled their 
military power for years to come, and forced them to 
evacuate most of the provinces which they had filched away 
from Hungary. When the name of the successful com- 
mander was in every one's mouthy it occurred to Louis XIV 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 25 

to offer him a marshal's baton if he would return to 
France. 

The proposal, which took for granted that Eugene was 
a mere adventurer, was rejected with scorn. " The little 
Abbe," as he continued to be called by the soldiers who 
idolized him, had sworn never to re-enter French territory 
save with a drawn sword in his hand. The War of the 
Spanish Succession gave him the opportunity of showing 
that he was no utterer of random threats. The story of 
his achievements in that war must have been very familiar 
to the Emperor's daughters. More recent still were the 
glorious days of 1 7 1 6 and 1 7 1 7 when, in two pitched 
battles, Eugene annihilated the armies of the Sultan and 
drove the Turks from their last foothold in Hungary. An 
Austrian writer suggests that the victory at Belgrade might 
be regarded as Eugene's christening gift to Archduchess 
Theresa. That she was specially interested in the hero 
who had made her birth-year so illustrious goes without 
saying, though, like other people, she may have been some- 
what taken aback by a first glimpse of Prinz Eagen % 
der edle Rither. Even those who knew he was so diminu- 
tive, that his armour seemed as if it had been made for a 
boy, were hardly prepared for the oddity of his appear- 
ance. Fortunately Theresa learned betimes the unwisdom 
of judging by outward show. 

During the intervals of peace Eugene, in his double 
capacity of Commander-in-Chief and President of the Council 
of War, was often to be seen at the Hofburg. But he was 
a man of varied interests, who spent no more time at Court 
than was absolutely necessary. He was not therefore likely 
to come much in contact with the Emperor's daughter, 
although the problem of her future cost him many an 
anxious thought. 

The future position of Archduchess Theresa was also a 
subject of peculiar interest to Eugene's old friend and 
companion-in-arms, Count John Palffy. A patriot from his 
youth up was this Hungarian nobleman. Born in 1663, 
the first twenty years of his life fall within the period of 
Hungary's wellnigh hopeless struggle for independent exist- 
ence. In the east the insatiable Turk was establishing him- 
self on her territory, seizing her sons and daughters in 



26 MARIA THERESA 

thousands and selling them for slaves. In the west, the 
autocrats at Vienna were doing their utmost to reduce the 
ancient Magyar kingdom to the position of an Austrian 
province. One after another the Habsburg rulers failed to 
redeem their promises of religious toleration and of govern- 
ment in accordance with the time-honoured laws of the 
Hungarians. The people, goaded to resistance, made fre- 
quent and desperate efforts to free their country from its 
twofold bondage. Through the baldest narrative of their 
achievements the glow of their fiery patriotism may still be 
felt. The pity of it that so much courage and self-devotion 
should have been mainly associated with isolated move- 
ments, and doomed to end in the expatriation, imprison- 
ment, or death of a multitude of heroes ! 

The Palffy family were patriots of an equally fervent 
but more cautious type. They represented those of their 
countrymen who held that the deliverance of Hungary could 
not be brought about on independent lines. Either the 
Emperor or the Sultan must espouse her cause. Of the two 
oppressors, the Sultan was obviously the more to be dreaded. 
It behoved them, therefore, to shake off his yoke as ex- 
peditiously as possible. With this end in view John Palffy 
found scope for his energies by taking part in Charles of 
Lorraine's crusade against the Turks. In his case, as in 
that of his friend, Eugene of Savoy, promotion was not 
delayed. 

Three successive emperors were served by him with a 
fidelity which never wavered, and as time went on he had 
the satisfaction of realizing that he had done wisely in 
taking his stand on the side of the Habsburgs. In Joseph I 
the Hungarians at last had a king who manifested a con- 
ciliatory spirit in his dealings with them. As for Charles 
VI, 1 it was of the essence of his policy to maintain a good 
understanding with the Hungarians. Their support -was 
essential to his scheme of guaranteeing the Pragmatic Sanc- 
tion. By the terms of this instrument the relations between 
Hungary and Austria were more clearly stated than in any 
previous document. The two countries were declared in- 
separable, and the ruler of both was always to be one and 

1 As King of Hungary he was Charles III. 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 27 

the same person — a male or female Habsburg in the regular 
order of succession. In other respects, however, Hungary- 
was to be independent. She was to be governed by her 
own Diet and her own laws. The Austro -Hungarian 
monarchy had come definitely into existence (1723). 

On weighing the advantages of these transactions with 
the Emperor, Magyar patriots found that the balance still 
dipped too heavily on the side of Austria. But they were 
content to bide their time for further concessions. The 
next king would be either a minor or a woman. 1 In neither 
case was there the least likelihood of a peaceful accession, 
and in the general upheaval Hungary might easily discover 
an opportunity of readjusting the political scales. 

As the years passed by, bringing no addition to the 
Imperial family, every one but Charles himself came to look 
upon Archduchess Theresa as the future head of the 
monarchy. Amongst the first to discern the latent possi- 
bilities of her nature was Count Palffy. His services to the 
State were rewarded by many proofs of His Majesty's con- 
fidence and favour. Moreover, he had the opportunity of 
winning the affection of the girl who seemed destined to 
wear the crown of Hungary. To her he was simply 
"Father Palffy — one of my friends." "Grandfather" would 
have been as fitting a title, for the Count Was her senior 
by more than half a century. Few friendships have had 
more important results than that between the young Princess 
and the elderly nobleman who stands out as " one of the 
grandest figures in the more recent history of Hungary." 2 

Theresa was nearly twelve years old when the death of 
Duke Leopold of Lorraine 3 made it incumbent upon the 
Hereditary Prince to proceed to Nancy for his installation 
as successor to the dukedom. Six years had been spent by 
Francis in intimate association with! the Imperial house- 
hold, and he had endeared himself to every member of it. 
Theresa had all along regarded him with proprietary in- 



1 The Salic law had hitherto prevailed in Hungary. To evade the difficulty of 
acknowledging a female sovereign, she was to be referred to as king in the 
official Latin language. 

2 Arneth, Maria Theresia, Vol. I, p. 257 
B March, 1729. 



28 MARIA THERESA 

terest, and was devoted to her prince. She was tall for 
her age — a pretty, fair-haired girl, whose resemblance to 
her mother was sufficient assurance of no ordinary degree 
of attractiveness in days to come. For personal, no less 
than for political reasons, Francis would fain have had 
some pledge of the more permanent relationship, which 
had been the object of his father's ambition. He lingered 
over his preparations for leaving Vienna. It was to no 
purpose. The Emperor was as gracious as ever. In his 
non-committal way he mumbled something resembling an 
invitation to return to Austria when the young Duke had 
accomplished his mission. Otherwise he was suffered to 
go as he had come, with no suggestion of the formal 
betrothal which would have set so many minds at rest. 

With his departure Theresa's childhood comes to an 
end. She had not been ignorant of her father's schemes 
for bestowing her hand on this or that candidate, from the 
political point of view perhaps more desirable than Francis. 
Yet so long as he was, so to speak, the suitor in possession, 
it had never seemed possible that his claim would actually 
be set aside. But who could tell what might happen 
during an absence which was likely to be prolonged? 
His new title was Duke of Lorraine and Bar. The latter 
duchy was a fief of the French Crown, and Francis would 
therefore be under the necessity of going to Paris to do 
homage to Louis XV. More time would be taken up with 
visits to other European capitals. The return of the Prince 
seemed very remote, and Theresa felt very forlorn, though 
her mother and sister did their best to console and en- 
courage her. 

The most persistent opponent of the Lorraine marriage 
was Elizabeth Farnese, second wife of Philip V of Spain. 
An unscrupulous, ambitious woman, her chief end in life 
was to secure positions of eminence for her sons. Small 
chance had any of them of succeeding to the throne of 
Spain. The prior claim belonged to their half-brother, 
Don Ferdinand, the offspring of Philip's former marriage. 
Unlike his Habsburg predecessors, this Bourbon king had 
no convenient appanages in the Low Countries and in Italy 
to bestow upon the younger members of his family. The 
loss of the Italian States was particularly galling to Eliza- 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 29 

beth, herself a princess of Parma. She was ready to seize 
any pretext, and even to risk another war, if Naples could 
be regained and become the heritage of her eldest son, Don 
Carlos. To begin with, she resolved to leave no stone 
unturned to secure for him the Duchies of Parma and Pia- 
cenza. The first step was to procure the co-operation of 
the Emperor. It was a disagreeable necessity and might 
end in a rebuff, for Charles held that the Imperial claims 
on Italy were still valid. But Elizabeth reflected that he had 
other axes to grind. It was not improbable that they might 
be able to strike a bargain. 

As a result of negotiations, the rivals of the Spanish 
Succession War got rid of some of their outstanding causes 
of dissension. Charles renounced his pretensions to the 
crown of Spain, and apparently assented to the proposal 
with regard to the reversion of the Italian duchies when 
their childless rulers should have departed this life. Philip 
in return undertook to support the Pragmatic Sanction and 
the Ostend East India Company, a promising commercial 
enterprise in which Charles was keenly interested. This was 
in 1725. But the acknowledged Treaty of Vienna was sup- 
plemented by secret articles, which provided for the mar- 
riage of two of the Emperor's daughters to Don Carlos and 
Don Philip, the sons of Philip V and Elizabeth Farnese. 

The secret soon leaked out, and the champions of the 
balance of power rushed to arms. There was an outbreak 
of hostilities between England and Spain, which threatened 
to develop into a general European war. As it happened, 
not one of the conflicting Powers was prepared for a lengthy 
struggle — not even Austria, though Charles VI had contrived 
to detach the King of Prussia from his alliance with Hanover 
and win him over to the Imperial side. It was therefore 
possible for the advocates of peace, Fleury in France and 
Walpole in England, to combine their efforts and bring the 
war to an end at an early stage. As a preliminary to the 
peace negotiations the Austro- Spanish matrimonial scheme 
had perforce to be abandoned. The Emperor assumed his 
most aggrieved attitude, and professed inability to under- 
stand why his action had been called in question. What if 
he had promised two of his three daughters to Spain? He 
had never meant that the eldest should be one of the two — an 



3 o MARIA THERESA 

explanation hardly calculated to soothe the infuriated Eliza- 
beth Farnese. A congress of representatives of the Great 
Powers met at Soissons to determine the provisions of the 
treaty of peace, known as the Second Treaty of Vienna. 
It was not ready for signature till 1731. But the question 
of Theresa's betrothal to Don Carlos was practically settled 
in the negative before Francis of Lorraine left the Austrian 
Court. 

During the year which followed his departure, an equally 
distasteful proposal kept the young Archduchess in a most 
unwholesome state of tension. 

The alliance of Austria and Prussia was the outcome of 
much double-dealing on the part of Charles VI and Count 
Seckendorf, his wily ambassador at Berlin. In true Mephis- 
tophelean fashion, Seckendorf set himself to win the favour 
of Frederick William I, beguiling him with promises of 
Imperial friendship and of Imperial help in making good 
his claim to the Duchies of Julich and Berg in North-western 
Germany, albeit the Emperor had already undertaken to up- 
hold the claim of the Elector Palatine to the selfsame 
duchies. In return for such illusory advantages, the King 
was induced to sign away his prospects of peace and happi- 
ness, so far at least as this world was concerned. The Treaty 
of Wiisterhausen (1726), which pledged the King and 
Emperor to mutual support and protection, had a sinister 
influence on the fortunes of the Prussian Royal Family. It 
involved the repudiation of a wellnigh completed treaty, 
between Frederick William and his father-in-law, George I 
of England, who was also Elector of Hanover. This latter 
contract was designed to cement the union of Prussia, Han- 
over, and the Maritime Powers, by the marriage of the 
Prussian Crown Prince and his sister Wilhelmina to the 
eldest daughter and son of the Prince of Wales and that 
very Caroline of Anspach who had refused to sell her Pro- 
testant birthright for an Imperial title. As things fell out, 
it was most unfortunate that the Queen of Prussia should 
have set her heart on the double marriage. She declined 
to see any finality in the alliance with Austria, and m)ade 
repeated efforts to induce her brother, when he became 
George II, to enter into fresh negotiations. But her 
endeavours to outmanoeuvre Seckendorf had no result, save 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 31 

that her unfortunate son and daughter became involved in 
her intrigues, and had to bear the brunt of their father's 
frenzied hatred of amateur diplomacy. 

Had things been left to take their course, Frederick 
William would have had a better chance of discovering 
Seckendorf's relationship to the father of lies. Even as it 
was, the Count had much ado to prevent his victim from 
becoming restive in the absence of any definite pronounce- 
ment with regard to Julich and Berg. There was also the 
question of the Crown Prince's marriage. His Majesty 
wanted to know whom the Emperor intended to propose as 
a substitute for the cousin who had lately become Princess 
Royal of England. The tempter opined that the Prince had 
only to turn Catholic in order to qualify for the hand of an 
archduchess, of the Archduchess, in fact. For, in spite of 
his trafficking with Spain, Charles VI was undoubtedly re- 
serving his eldest daughter for marriage with a prince of the 
Empire. 

The departure of the Duke of Lorraine gave colour to 
the idea of the Crown Prince of Prussia as the favoured 
candidate. That Charles ever contemplated such a union 
is scarcely conceivable. But so long as the rumour served a 
diplomatic purpose he refrained from contradicting it. Even 
the members of his own family were left in the dark as to 
his ultimate intentions. The Empress, full of sympathy for 
her daughter, constituted herself advocate-in-chief of the 
absent Francis, but she had no assurance of having made 
any impression on her husband. Under the strain of anxiety 
Theresa's health began to give way. Enthusiastic bio- 
graphers would have their readers believe that, when the 
Duke of Lorraine returned to Vienna in 1732, the fifteen- 
year-old Archduchess was already strikingly beautiful. The 
dispatches of the ambassadors of those days tell a very 
different tale. Until she was over seventeen these lynx-eyed 
reporters only saw an overgrown, anaemic girl, who looked 
as if she might develop consumption. It would have been 
strange if her health had not suffered, considering how she 
was kept on tenterhooks by her father's indecision and 
obstinate determination to weigh the claims of every matri- 
monial candidate however unsuitable. 

The Unhappy Prince of Prussia was only one of the series, 



32 MARIA THERESA 

and he eventually became an object of pity rather than 
dread. Driven by his father's brutality to the fatal step of 
trying to escape from the country, he was arrested and im- 
prisoned. His companion in flight was beheaded before his 
eyes, and he himself was condemned to death. 

The Emperor was ready to welcome any plausible pretext 
that might extricate him from the imbroglio at Berlin; but 
he was shocked beyond measure at the form in which the 
solution of the problem had come. He determined to make 
an effort to stay the execution of the savage justice of 
Frederick William, who had decreed that his son should 
share the fate of other deserters from the Prussian Army. 
There was no time to lose. Bartenstein, the Secretary of the 
Cabinet, and Starhemberg, the Finance Minister, were com- 
missioned to draft an Imperial remonstrance, " and being 
retired, both of them, into a closet, they drew the letter 
which was written immediately in the Emperor's own hand, 
and was dispatched that same evening." By the time it 
reached the grim soldier-king his wrath had begun to cool 
and he was willing to admit Charles' plea that the Crown 
Prince belonged not only to Prussia, but to the Empire, and 
that he could not therefore be put to death with so little 
formality. A proposal that the unfortunate youth should be 
liberated and restored to favour was likewise taken in good 
part. Before long the two monarchs were again in com- 
munication on the subject of the Prince's marriage. His 
name was no longer coupled with that of any archduchess. 
It was decided that his consort must be a Protestant. But 
Charles still hankered after a matrimonial bond between the 
reigning families of Austria and Prussia— something that 
might give the House of Habsburg a peculiar claim to 
Prussian support in time of need. His nominee was a young 
relative and namesake of the Empress — Princess Elizabeth 
Christina of Brunswick-Bevern. He was gratified when 
Frederick William declared himself ready to accept her as a 
daughter-in-law. 

After the long period of suspense Theresa once more 
breathed freely. When it was whispered that Francis was 
certainly returning to Vienna her spirits began to recover. 
But the question as to what might have happened if she had 
been married to Frederick the Great is almost as interest- 



THE CHILDHOOD OF MARIA THERESA 33 

ing as the speculative results of a Napoleonic victory; at 
.Waterloo. 

As for Charles VI, he viewed the issue of events in 
Prussia with the utmost complacency, and took credit to 
himself as a master of statecraft. Assuming that he had 
effected a permanent alliance with Frederick William and 
established a claim to the undying gratitude of the Crown 
Prince, he had pleasing visions of the best disciplined army 
in Europe enforcing Habsburg claims for a couple of gen- 
erations at least. And all this had been achieved without 
doing violence to his daughter's feelings. 



CHAPTER IV 
FRANCIS OF LORRAINE ON HIS TRAVELS 

HAD Theresa but known it, the Duke of Lorraine's 
absence from Austria at this juncture was as 
favourable to his cause as his presence had been 
in years gone by. It was one thing for Charles to dally with 
the idea of other matrimonial relationships when Francis 
was at his side, occupying, so far as companionship went, 
the place of his dead son. It was a very different thing 
to contemplate a final rupture of the tie which bound him 
to the young Prince when separation had proved it to be 
unexpectedly strong. Until Francis had time to regulate 
his affairs and make his will paramount in Lorraine, it 
would manifestly be inexpedient to unsettle him. But 
Charles began to consider by what devious way the Duke 
might ultimately be brought back to Vienna. Meanwhile 
he took care to keep himself fully informed of what was 
taking place on the farther side of the Rhine. Great was 
his satisfaction to discover that responsibility, together with 
a quickened sense of being still on probation, was having 
a stimulating effect on the easy-going Francis. 

The late Duke of Lorraine was frequently referred to as 
"Leopold the Good." "The good-natured" would have 
been a more apposite description of that pleasure-loving 
philosopher. But lax government was at an end when his 
son took hold of the reins. Disregarding every temptation 
to self-indulgence, Francis applied himself to business with 
most unwonted vigour. Nothing was decided without due 
reflection ; and when he set to work to augment the revenues 
of the duchy he made it uncomfortably evident to some 
people that he possessed a considerable talent for finance. 
Every detail of expenditure was carefully scrutinized. Sine- 

34 



FRANCIS OF LORRAINE ON HIS TRAVELS 35 

cures were abolished and unprofitable hangers-on at Court 
were got rid of. That he made enemies by the score gave 
him little concern. He did not mean to spend overmuch 
time in Lorraine, and he aspired to a position which in- 
volved the command of great resources. He reflected that 
it would not injure him with the Emperor when it became 
known that at the miniature French Court of Luneville he 
was disliked, not merely on account of his pecuniary re- 
trenchments, but because in tastes, dress, and demeanour 
he had become altogether German. 

Only during his brief sojourn at Versailles did he appear 
in the attire of a Frenchman, and exhibit all the charm of 
manner which usually characterized him. At the same 
time he made it quite clear that it was not the Duke of 
Lorraine, the possible son-in-law of His Imperial Majesty, 
who had come to do homage for the Duchy of Bar. As one 
travelling incognito and almost unattended, he knelt before 
his second cousin, Louis XV, who obligingly curtailed the 
ceremony as far as possible. 

When Francis had been sixteen months in Lorraine it 
was rumoured that he would presently set out for Brussels 
to visit a sister of Charles VI, who nominally governed the 
Austrian Netherlands. His subsequent intentions were not 
divulged. When, however, it became known that a regent 
was to be appointed, and that the departing Duke was 
taking away quantities of jewels and other valuables, as 
well as a good round sum of money, nobody doubted that 
his ultimate destination was Vienna. Once married to the 
Emperor's daughter, it was unlikely that he would ever 
retrace his steps. So far as he was personally concerned, 
his forthcoming absence gave rise to little regret. What 
rankled in the minds of his subjects was the certainty that 
in future Austria would reap all the benefit of the economic 
prosperity of the duchy. Even the members of his family 
were secretly relieved to see the last of their dictatorial 
relative. His mother had greatly desired that her younger 
son, Charles Alexander, should be the representative of 
the absentee ruler. But Francis thought otherwise, and in- 
sisted that she herself should resume the position she had 
occupied for some months after her husband's death. And 
she was not mollified to discover that, as compared with' 



36 MARIA THERESA 

her former term of office, her power as regent was to be 
largely curtailed. 

Francis probably regarded as a necessary evil the policy 
which had caused him to ride rough-shod over the aspira- 
tions and prejudices of his fellow-countrymen. Subsequent 
events revealed the strength of his attachment to the in- 
heritance which had come down to him from his forefathers. 
And since arrogance and lack of sociability were alien to his 
nature, they were doubtless assumed as a means of in- 
timidating those who would otherwise have opposed the 
introduction of unpopular changes. 

A fresh chapter of life opened before him when, in the 
spring of 1731, he crossed the frontier of Lorraine and 
began his journey northward. At Luxemburg he found 
General von Neipperg ready to resume attendance upon him 
at the Emperor's request. Francis had no expectation of 
an immediate summons to Vienna, and willingly gave in 
to His Majesty's wish that the visit to Flanders should be 
followed by an extensive tour in Holland, England, and 
various German states. It was enough for him that he 
was to travel under Imperial auspices. No such honour 
would have fallen to his share had Charles been averse from 
the inevitable inference. 

In London and the Hague the Duke was the guest of the 
Austrian ambassadors. To some extent he was an am- 
bassador himself. The rupture between Spain and the 
Empire had determined Elizabeth Farnese to seek from 
the Maritime Powers that guarantee of her son's succession 
to the Italian duchies which' the Emperor was no longer 
minded to accord. The British Government lent a favour- 
able ear to her proposals. Her enmity had an untoward 
effect on the trade between England and the West Indies, 
for no effort was made to control the action of the colonial 
governors of Philip V. Despite the declaration of peace, 
they continued the lucrative practice of licensing privateers, 
nominally to protect the seaboards of the countries under 
Spanish rule. But they winked at the privateers' abuse of 
the right to search vessels suspected of smuggling, and at 
their frequent failure to confine their operations to Spanish 
waters. Seafaring men, returning to England from America 
and the Indies, told gruesome stories of the plundering of 



FRANCIS OF LORRAINE ON HIS TRAVELS 37 

British ships and the maltreatment of British sailors. Be- 
neath the exaggeration to which such tales are liable there 
was a considerable substratum of truth. And the friction 
between the rival Powers was likely enough to lead to 
some fresh outbreak of hostility before the dilatory Congress 
at Soissons had agreed to the terms of the formal treaty of 
peace. 

It was therefore resolved to steal a march on the Con- 
gress. Lord Chesterfield, the British envoy at the Hague, 
maintained that " a previous and separate accommodation 
with Spain was infinitely preferable to a general one with 
Spain and the Emperor." This agreement took shape at 
the Treaty of Seville (Nov., 1729). English trade to Spain 
and the Indies was to resume the footing it had occupied 
before the war. The Spanish Government made no refer- 
ence to the vexed question of a restoration of Gibraltar. In 
return for these concessions, England and her allies under- 
took to secure the succession of Don Carlos in Parma and 
Piacenza, and to overcome Imperial repugnance to the dis- 
patch of Spanish garrisons to these principalities. 

A further result of this treaty was the position of isola- 
tion in which the Emperor found himself. His indignation 
was natural. But the " Termagant of Spain " cared little 
for his threats of vengeance; she had gained her point, 
and Charles soon ceased to interfere with her projects. 
He had been left with no alternative but a return to the 
time-honoured policy of alliance between Austria and the 
Maritime Powers. The preliminary negotiations were carried 
on at the Hague. Chiefly through the influence of Lord 
Chesterfield, the Emperor was enabled to add England and 
Holland to the list of supporters of the Pragmatic Sanction. 
The price of their adhesion was a threefold concession. 
Against his better judgment, Charles undertook to suppress 
the Ostend East India Company — always an object of 
jealousy to British and Dutch traders. He promised that 
his heiress should not marry a Bourbon or any other prince 
powerful enough to upset the political equilibrium of Europe. 
Finally he consented to the establishment of a Spanish 
dynasty in Italy (March, 1731). A few months later the 
son of Philip V, and Elizabeth Farnese was the reigning 
Duke of Parma and Piacenza. 



38 MARIA THERESA 

Although the business part of the transaction was safely 
accomplished, something still remained to be done. After 
so long a period of estrangement between the Emperor and 
his allies, it seemed advisable for him to send a special 
representative to visit the Courts of Northern Europe and 
induce the rulers of the several countries to take a personal 
interest in the welfare of the Habsburgs. To entrust a 
mission of this kind to the Duke of Lorraine was tantamount 
to an intimation of his forthcoming betrothal to Archduchess 
Theresa. But Charles was verging on a resolution to raise 
no further objections to the marriage, and acquaintance with 
other countries would be a distinct advantage to his son-in- 
law. As already stated, Francis was entirely satisfied with 
the part assigned to him. It was congenial, and he set 
himself to play it with zest. Away went the mask of chilling 
reserve through which he had held communication with his 
subjects. The lively, debonair prince of former days re- 
appeared, attracting those with whom he came in contact, 
not only by the comeliness of his person, but by his affa- 
bility and his interest in everything and everybody. 

He arrived at the Hague prepossessed in favour of the 
British Ambassador. Ere long he was hand-in-glove with 
that brilliant, versatile, fastidious nobleman. Those who 
held converse with Francis speedily discovered that any- 
thing of the nature of occult science had for him an irresist- 
ible fascination. By accident or design, he came to know 
that Chesterfield was a Freemason. His questions gave the 
latter an opportunity of defending the fraternity from the 
gross charges frequently brought against it, and of repre- 
senting Masonic institutions in so favourable a light that 
Francis declared his intention of joining the craft forthwith. 

Chesterfield undertook the necessary arrangements for 
his initiation. A deputation was sent to the Hague by the 
Grand Lodge of England, and Francis was duly accepted 
as an "entered Prentice and Fellow-craftsman." Amongst 
those present at the ceremony were Dr. Desaguliers, Master 
Mason; John Stanhope, Warden and brother of the British 
Ambassador; and the Ambassador himself, Philip Stanhope, 
Earl of Chesterfield. 

This was a noteworthy event, inasmuch as Francis was the 
first reigning prince to become a Freemason. A few weeks 



FRANCIS OF LORRAINE ON HIS TRAVELS 39 

later, " Brother Lorrain coming to England, Grand Master 
Lovell formed an Occasional Lodge at Sir Robert Walpole's 
House of Houghton in Norfolk, and made Brother Lorrain 
arid Brother Thomas Pelham, Duke of Newcastle, Master 
Masons (Nov. 2nd, 1 73 1 ). And ever since, both in the 
Grand Lodge and in particular Lodges, the Fraternity 
joyfully remember His Royal Highness in the proper 
manner." 1 

The papal decrees against Freemasonry are of later date 
than 1 73 1. Catholic historians are therefore hardly justi- 
fied in their denunciation of the attitude of Francis of Lor- 
raine towards the brotherhood. Apparently he did not 
regret his association with it. In Austria, Tuscany, and 
wherever his influence extended, he encouraged and pro- 
tected his fellow-craftsmen. He was the moving spirit in 
the formation of the first Vienna Lodge — that of " the 
Three Fires " — and was its Grand Master at the time of his 
death. 

Francis was ten weeks in England (Oct. 14th to Dec. 
2 1 st, 1 731) — and it must be admitted that he made the 
most of his time. With Neipperg, Count Kinsky (the 
Austrian Ambassador), and " Brother " Thomas Pelham, 
Duke of Newcastle, in attendance, His Highness was here, 
there, and everywhere, visiting, sight-seeing, or travelling 
from morning to night. Whole days were spent by him 
in the circle of the Royal Family. With George II and the 
Prince of Wales he went hunting in Richmond Park or 
Windsor Forest, returning with them afterwards to Hampton 
Court. At dinner his seat was on the King's right hand. 
The evening was spent in Queen Caroline's apartments, 
where Francis joined in the popular card game of quadrille, 
with Her Majesty as partner, or enjoyed further oppor- 
tunities of speech with King George, or was entertained by 
the Prince of Wales and his sisters. Kinsky 's dispatches 2 
assure the Emperor that Their Majesties are delighted with 
the Duke, that more than once they had expressed the wish 
that everything possible should be done to make his sojourn 
agreeable. There was something very taking about the 

1 James Anderson, The New Book of Constitutions of the Antient and 
Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, 1738. 
3 Archives, Vienna. 



40 MARIA THERESA 

young Francis, with his ready smile, his courteous bearing, 
his dexterity as a sportsman, and his graceful carriage, 
especially when he appeared on horseback. But he might 
have been a good deal less of a Prince Charming, and yet 
have received an equally gracious welcome. His friendly re- 
ception was first and foremost a tacit expression of approval 
of the Emperor's supposed choice of a son-in-law who was 
unlikely to upset the balance of power. It was, moreover, 
the outcome of a desire to honour the future consort of the 
greatest heiress in Europe — a prince who would probably 
succeed to the Imperial throne if the other Electors were 
as well disposed towards him as George of Hanover. 

Where the King led the way, the great nobles and 
Ministers of the Crown naturally followed. At their town 
houses and country houses Francis was entertained in 
princely fashion, and introduced to a society which had 
little in common with that to which he was accustomed. 
Records of Viennese Court life in the late seventeenth and 
early eighteenth century convey the impression of intoler- 
able dulness. In spite of the numerous, well-attended re- 
ligious services, it is difficult to avoid the conviction that 
the only deity worshipped with fervour was the great god- 
dess Etiquette. Compliance with her behests made the 
lives of the emperors of this period absolutely unnatural. 
" The opinion that it was below them to converse with the 
rest of mankind " was the only reason that Lady Mary 
Montagu could assign for " their fondness for pieces of 
deformity " in the shape of dwarfs. " Not to be quite 
alone," the Imperial overlords were " forced to seek their 
companions among the refuse of human nature." Thus 
Charles VI and his consort found relaxation in the chatter of 
" two little monsters, as ugly as devils, especially the female, 
but all bedaubed with diamonds. These creatures were the 
only part of the Court privileged to talk freely to His' 
Majesty." By his subjects in general the Emperor was 
regarded with' excessive veneration, and was approached, 
like an Eastern potentate, with repeated genuflections. 

In striking contrast to all this was the position of the 
Hanoverian King, hedged about by no divinity, and with half 
the people in the country questioning his right to reign at 
all. But the violently partisan society, with its divided 




FRANCIS OF LORRAINE 

AFTER A PORTRAIT BY RICHARDSON 



FRANCIS OF LORRAINE ON HIS TRAVELS 41 

loyalty, its political, literary, and social feuds, its squibs, 
lampoons, and caricatures, was at least varied and pulsating 
with life. It was chiefly the finer aspects of that life — 
its stateliness, dignity, and intellectual activity — that were 
revealed to Francis of Lorraine. He examines the art 
treasures of the Duke of Devonshire. He accompanies 
the Duke of Grafton to Cambridge and sees " everything 
that was curious there." His interest in chemical experi- 
ments attracts him to a meeting of the Royal Society, and 
he is made a member of that learned body. The Gentle- 
man's Magazine records his appearances at both Houses of 
Parliament, at the Courts of Justice, the East India House 
and, as befitted a budding financier, at the Royal Exchange. 
Kin sky, who troubled himself little about the spelling of 
British proper names, tells of an expedition to " Wulitch " 
Arsenal, where Francis was received by the Duke of 
" Argaille," and honoured with a salute of eighty guns. 
Time was also found for impromptu exploits. On Novem- 
ber 9th the Duke set off with Frederick Prince of Wales 
for an incognito visit to the city. Securing seats at a 
window, they watched the Lord Mayor's Show and the 
proceedings of the crowd. On December 21st Francis 
took leave of the Royal Family and his many English 
friends, and at " Grinwitch " embarked for Holland. The 
following evening he was in Rotterdam. 

That the Duke's visit to England had accomplished its 
purpose is evident from a letter written by George II to his 
recently departed guest. " Nothing," says His Majesty, 
" could have given me greater satisfaction than your sojourn 
in this country. I prize the opportunity of becoming ac- 
quainted with your worth, arid I am certain that your kind 
heart will bear witness to the sincerity with which I assure 
you of my perfect esteem and constant friendship." 

In Holland Francis confirmed the favourable impression 
which he had already made on the Dutch Government. 
Before he left the Hague he received full information con- 
cerning a mission to which Charles VI attributed even 
more importance than the one which had just been ful- 
filled. The King of Prussia was in poor health. His ill- 
ness was largely the result of excitement associated with his 
unreasonable attitude towards his son. He was unusually 



42 MARIA THERESA 

irritable and inclined to be jealous of the Emperor's new- 
formed friendship with George II. It was therefore pro- 
posed by Prince Eugene that the Duke's visit to England 
should be followed by a visit to Brandenburg. It might 
not be easy to allay the suspicions of Frederick William 
and rivet the bond between Austria and Prussia, but Francis 
was urged to put forth all his diplomatic skill for the 
attainment of these desirable objects. This, however, was 
not the whole of his task. The King's illness might per- 
chance take a serious turn, so it was of the utmost moment 
to secure the goodwill of the Crown Prince. Merely to get 
into touch with him would not suffice. Francis must strive 
to lay the foundation of an enduring friendship between 
Frederick and himself. The unlucky Frederick was still 
in semi-banishment at Ciistrin, but the arrival of Francis 
was expected to serve as a pretext for his recall. 

The Prussian King expressed much satisfaction at the 
prospect of entertaining the Duke of Lorraine. Accord- 
ingly, on January 26th, 1732, the latter set out on his 
journey across Germany, winning favour at all the Courts on 
his route. At the ducal residences of the House of Bruns- 
wick he was welcomed by the relatives of Empress Eliza- 
beth, including the well-meaning but shy and common- 
place girl whose betrothal to the Crown Prince of Prussia 
might any day be announced. From the first suggestion 
of the alliance Frederick had never ceased to protest against 
it. There were, he maintained, other eligible princesses 
whom rumour painted in more flattering colours than the 
insignificant daughter of the Duke of Brunswick, although 
he would far rather travel for a time than marry any one. 
He pleaded his right to take a wife for his own pleasure 
rather than that of his father. But right and reason had 
no chance to prevail against the paternal, backed by the 
Imperial will. As the price of peace and an establishment 
separate from that of his tyrannical sire, Frederick con- 
sented to a lifelong sacrifice. 

On the evening of February 26th he appeared in the 
royal circle for the first time since the marriage of his 
sister Wilhelmina, three months previously. He was forth- 
with presented to his intended bride, who had been more 
than a week in Berlin, and to the Duke of Lorraine, who 



FRANCIS OF LORRAINE ON HIS TRAVELS 43 

had arrived that very, day. The Duke was the least em- 
barrassing of the royal guests, and to him the Crown Prince 
attached himself with a friendliness which would have re- 
joiced the heart of Charles VI. During the ensuing three 
weeks the two young men were much together and evidently 
on terms of great good-fellowship. Francis was present at 
the betrothal of Frederick and Elizabeth Christina, ;and 
took part in the subsequent festivities. The King having 
got his own way with regard to his son's marriage was 
disposed to be more conciliatory about other matters, and 
indifferent health did not make him an indifferent host. 
There was, indeed, no member of the Prussian Court who 
was not eager to consult the wishes of the ducal visitor and 
minister to his pleasure. As a matter of course he in- 
spected giant grenadiers and hunted boars, and found the 
guns at Spandau as demonstrative as those at "Wulitch." 
So pleasant were his relations with the Royal Family that 
they one and all lamented his departure. With the King 
and the Crown Prince he continued to exchange friendly 
epistles for several years. 

In the capacity of Ambassador-Extraordinary Francis 
had acquitted himself to the entire satisfaction of the 
Emperor. Surely he would now receive the reward on 
which his heart was set. It even seemed as if a double 
boon were about to be conferred upon him. Already on 
an excellent footing with the kings who were also Electors 
of Hanover and Brandenburg, he was directed to visit and 
propitiate the Elector of Mayence before leaving Germany. 
This could only signify that Charles regarded him not 
merely as a son-in-law, but as a successor on the Imperial 
throne. Clearly he meant to bring about the Duke's in- 
stallation as King of the Romans, or Emperor-designate. 

With rosy visions of the future to beguile the time and 
the magic of spring in the air, Francis, free at last from 
all political engagements, set out for the Imperial capital. 
At Breslau, in Silesia, he was perplexed to hear of his 
appointment to the office of Governor-General of Hungary. 
The honour was great, its bestowal a proof of the utmost 
confidence, yet the traveller did not finish his journey in 
the exultant mood in which he had begun it. The nomina- 
tion might be simply a means of enabling the consort of 



44 MARIA THERESA 

the future Queen of Hungary to acquire first-hand know- 
ledge of the country and its peculiarities, political and 
otherwise. But that experience might have been gained 
without making it incumbent on Francis to reside at Press- 
burg. He had been dreaming of an establishment at Vienna 
and the closest intimacy with the Imperial household. Now 
he could not help fearing that a reward he had not coveted 
was to be substituted for the objects of supreme desire 
which had seemed almost within his grasp. 

His spirits revived when he arrived at the Hofburg and 
was received by Charles VI and his family with manifesta- 
tions of lively satisfaction. The Emperor and Empress 
made no secret of their pleasure in the reunion. It was 
likewise encouraging to be assured that he was still without 
a rival in the affections of Archduchess Theresa. In other 
respects she had changed a good deal during the two and 
a half years of his absence. The child of twelve had given 
place to a girl of fifteen, as tall as himself, and distinctly 
attractive, in spite of her lankness and excessive pallor. 
The resemblance to her mother had become more pro- 
nounced; but it was not so much an exact as an accentuated 
likeness. Theresa's features were not so delicately perfect 
as her mother's had been: her nose was perceptibly larger, 
so also was her mouth, though with no suggestion of the 
ugly Habsburg lip. Contemporaries of the Empress Eliza- 
beth refer to the " silvery " fairness of her abundant hair. 
Theresa inherited the wealth of hair, but with more colour 
in it — bright golden colour. Beneath its coils and curls 
her forehead no longer looked disproportionately high. Her 
mother's blue eyes were in keeping with the flower-like 
beauty of her youth. Theresa's eyes were grey, though 
with gleams of blue in them — eyes so full of sparkle that 
they seemed to give out light rather than reflect it.: 

Though deficient as yet in physical strength, there was 
no doubt of the vigour of her mental powers. Intellectual 
culture had passed her by. The Counter-R.eformation, with 
its embargo on original research, had deprived Vienna of 
its former eminence as a centre of learning. Apart from 
music, there was nothing in her training that could appeal 
to the imaginative side of her nature. But she had an in- 
born aptitude for observation, reflection, and logical reason- 



FRANCIS OF LORRAINE ON HIS TRAVELS 45 

ing. Save in the sphere of religion, where she had been 
led to believe that inquiry, was deadly sin, she proved 
quite capable of thinking for herself, of taking direct, un- 
biased views of things, and of forming her own opinions 
of the social and political worlds of her day in so far as she 
was acquainted with them. Her will was strong. Her 
tendency to act on her own initiative was merely in abey- 
ance. Not all the repressive influence of a most conven- 
tional, stereotyped existence had been able to hinder the 
development of an unmistakable personality. 

The ancestral sponsors had reason to be proud of the 
recipient of their gifts. Theresa, for her part, was proud 
of her ancestors and their achievements. Like her father, 
she refused to contemplate the possibility of a diminished 
Habsburg inheritance. Unlike her father, she had .little 
doubt of her own succession. The ensuring of the Prag- 
matic Sanction was therefore to her a matter of the first 
importance. There was only one sacrifice which she was 
not prepared to make for it. She was resolved that nothing 
short of coercion would induce her to accept any husband 
but Francis of Lorraine. Her love for him was the sole 
romantic element in her life, the power which enabled her 
to view the future through magic casements, closed as a rule 
to women of her rank. 

Theresa's joy over the return of her prince was mingled 
with disappointment as keen as his own when the Emperor 
gave no sign of fulfilling the hopes he had raised, the hopes 
he was known to have cherished himself. That Francis did 
not greatly desire the office of Viceroy of Hungary was 
evident, but the suggestion that he should receive some 
other mark of Imperial favour met with no response. The 
town of Pozsony, or Pressburg, which the Habsburg rulers 
had made the capital of Hungary in place of Buda, was 
forty miles from Vienna. Residence there did not imply 
exile from the Austrian capital, but it was too far off for 
frequent goings and comings. The new Governor found 
that he was expected to proceed thither without delay. 
Preparations were being made for his state entry into the 
city. The long-looked-for, wholly indefinite sojourn in 
Vienna dwindled down to two short weeks. He could but 
hope that the time was not far off when reasons of State 



4 6 



MARIA THERESA 



would cease to come between him and the fulfilment of his 
cherished desire. Meanwhile he wisely resolved to dis- 
charge his new duties as efficiently as possible. A friendly 
spirit characterized all his dealings with the Hungarians. He 
took pains to acquaint himself with their laws and customs. 
To obtain reliable information about the needs and possi- 
bilities of the country, he undertook a series of journeys 
which brought him into personal contact with the leading 
inhabitants of nearly every district. 



CHAPTER V 

THE WAR OF THE POLISH SUCCESSION, AND THE 
MARRIAGE OF MARIA THERESA 

A LTHOUGH the Emperor vouchsafed no explanation of 
/ \ his change of purpose, it was a sure indication 
JL jl of clouds on the political horizon. The storm 
held off till the following year (1733), and then broke in 
the War of the Polish Succession. In February Augustus 
II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, came to the end 
of his worthless existence. At the instigation of the French 
Government the Poles nominated as successor to their 
elective monarchy an already deposed king, Stanislaus 
Leszczynski, father-in-law of Louis XV. He was duly re- 
elected (September 1st, 1733), but not even France, allied 
with Spain, Sardinia, and some few German states, could 
avail to keep him on his throne against the will of Russia 
and Austria. The reign of Stanislaus lasted about a month. 
Then a Russian army invaded Poland, drove him out of 
Warsaw, thence to Danzig, and so eventually back to France. 
Another king, Augustus III, the new Elector of Saxony, 
was forced upon the reluctant Poles. His offer to guarantee 
the Pragmatic Sanction was the main reason of the 
Emperor's intervention on his behalf. It was an ill-advised 
step. Charles had neither a strong army nor a full treasury, 
and it was beyond his power to cope, at one and the same 
time, with the French and Sardinians in Northern Jtaly, 
with the Spaniards in the south of the Peninsula, and with 
the French army which had overrun Lorraine and crossed 
the Rhine. Elizabeth Farnese saw her way to gaining 
another point. The Spaniards took possession of Sicily, 
and Don Carlos was crowned king at Palermo (1735). 

47 



48 MARIA THERESA 

In Germany the French, at first successful, were after- 
wards repulsed and kept in check by Prince Eugene. For 
want of adequate support he could not follow up advantages, 
and the enemy was not forced to evacuate Lorraine. " The 
Little Abbe " had grown old and feeble, but he could still 
recognize a man of parts, even if he were only in the 
making. The ability of Crown Prince Frederick, who had 
accompanied the Prussian contingent of the Imperial army, 
did not escape the old commander. It gave him a feeling 
of uneasiness, and made him ask himself if it boded good 
or ill to the House of Habsburg. When the answer to that 
question was forthcoming he was no longer among the 
living. The first campaign of Frederick coincided with the 
last campaign of the great Eugene. 

In the light of after events, Walpole's policy, of neutrality, 
which withheld from the Emperor the support of the Mari- 
time Powers, was short-sighted in the extreme. True, they 
had no direct interest in Poland, but as the Spaniards had 
reaped all the advantages of the Treaty of Seville and 
disregarded its obligations, war between Great Britain and 
Spain was a mere question of time. Had it been de- 
clared in 1733 instead of 1739, it might have had a more 
fortunate issue for England, while the Bourbon allies would 
hardly have had their own way in Italy; nor would Charles 
VI have been brought to such a pass that yielding to the ex- 
tortionate demands of France and Spain seemed to him a 
lesser evil than continuing the war. 

The Queen of Spain, insatiable as ever, had no sooner 
received assurance of the Emperor's consent that Don Carlos 
should remain in undisputed possession of both Naples and 
Sicily, than she began to agitate for the transfer of Parma 
and Piacenza to her second son, Don Philip. When these 
duchies were definitely assigned to the Emperor, she sought 
to obtain them indirectly by reverting to the old project 
of marriage between her sons and the Archduchesses. The 
feasibility of betrothing the younger girl to a Spanish 
prince was seriously debated at Vienna, but the opponents 
of Bourbon aggrandizement would not hear of the scheme. 
Even when it was coupled with a proposal to sanction 
Theresa's marriage with the Duke of Lorraine it did 
not exclude the possibility that Marianne's descendants 



THE WAR OF THE POLISH SUCCESSION 49 

might inherit an empire co-extensive with that of 
Charles V. 

Never had the Emperor been so utterly perplexed. He 
did not want to perpetuate the enmity with Spain. And 
Don Carlos, as Charles III, King of Naples and heir pre- 
sumptive to his father's throne, had as good a claim to 
consideration as the King of Sardinia and the Hereditary 
Princes of Saxony and Bavaria, all of whom had been pro- 
posed to His Imperial Majesty as sons-in-law. 

Had it been possible for Charles VI to throw aside all 
scruples and make the future safety of the monarchy his 
sole object, his obvious course was to effect a matrimonial 
alliance with Bavaria. The Elector, whose wife was the 
younger daughter of Joseph I, had repudiated the Prag- 
matic Sanction, and was suspected of an intention to dis- 
pute it at the earliest possible moment. The position of 
his territory gave him every facility for the invasion of 
Austria or for the protection of Austria if the interests of the 
two countries were identified. It was, however, a serious 
drawback that the Hereditary Prince of Bavaria had just 
completed his eighth year, whereas Theresa was eighteen 
when the War of the Polish Succession came to an end. 
Though her health still left something to be desired, she 
was steadily gaining strength, and her face was no longer 
colourless. Those who observed the Emperor's pride in his 
good-looking, companionable daughter, and her ascendancy 
over him, were justified in prophesying that " a paternal 
tenderness for the Archduchess " would eventually decide 
the problem of her marriage. Her own straightforward 
nature refused to admit that there was any problem to be 
solved. The years had merely brought the element of 
passion into her love for Francis of Lorraine. In July, 
1 735, Sir Thomas Robinson, the British Ambassador to 
Vienna, describes Theresa as "a princess of the highest 
spirit. She reasons already. Her father's losses are her 
own. She admires his virtues, but then she condemns his 
mismanagement, and is of a temper so formed for rule 
and ambition, as to look upon him as little more than her 
administrator. Notwithstanding this lofty humour by day, 
she sighs and pines all night for her Duke of Lorraine. 
If she sleep, it is only to dream of him; if she wake, it 
4 



50 MARIA THERESA 

is but to talk of him to the lady-in-waiting; so that, as 
far as a judgment can be made from present appearances, 
there is no more probability of her ever forgetting the 
very individual government and the very individual husband 
which she thinks herself born to, than of her forgiving the 
authors of her losing either. For, if she be married to 
Don Carlos, she will, or she will not, lose these countries. 
If she does not, and keeps them with Spain or more, she 
still loses the prince whom she loves, and will have but 
the more power to revenge herself. If excluded from 
these countries, which she already looks upon as her own, 
that loss, added to the loss of the Duke of Lorraine, will 
make her the most turbulent queen that ever reigned in 
Spain." One would hardly think it possible for a con- 
temporary of Elizabeth Farnese to imagine a greater fire- 
brand among the potentates of Europe. But Robinson was 
right in surmising that Theresa could not be thwarted 
with impunity. 

Interesting impressions of the Archduchess at this period 
of her career are also recorded by Foscarini, the Venetian 
Envoy to the Imperial Court. He declares it doubtful if 
a search through the wide world would discover any woman 
better fitted to inherit the traditions and responsibilities 
of the House of Austria than the Emperor's elder daughter. 
Witness the composure of her manner, her thoughtful, 
almost serious expression, the consummate tact with which 
she fulfilled the duties of her station. Indeed, no ordinary 
girl could have humoured her father's fixed idea with re- 
gard to heirs without bating a jot of her own claim or 
giving any handle to possible mischief-makers. "Always," 
says the admiring Foscarini, " she says and does the right 
thing." Like Robinson, he regards her as "a princess 
of the highest spirit," and adds that " this quality con- 
joined with a certain virility of mind is perhaps the most 
remarkable of her gifts, and likely to carry her far on the 
way to greatness. She never loses sight of her future 
position, and, when she comes into her inheritance, those 
who are summoned to her councils will find that decisions 
rest with her and not with them." 

Great was Theresa's relief when her father was at last 
persuaded to forego the idea of a close relationship with 



THE WAR OF THE POLISH SUCCESSION 51 

Spain. He flattered himself that, by giving up his claims 
to the Two Sicilies, he had at least secured Philip V's con- 
tinued support of the Pragmatic Sanction. Concessions in 
Northern Italy sufficed to appease the King of Sardinia. 
Saxony's adhesion had already been purchased. If the 
demands of France could be complied with, there would be 
less risk in disappointing the Elector of Bavaria, who de- 
pended on France for support. But Cardinal Fleury, the 
powerful minister of Louis XV, was intent on driving a 
hard bargain. He undertook that France should guarantee 
the Pragmatic Sanction and that Stanislaus should renounce 
his claim to the Polish crown if the latter received the 
Duchies of Lorraine and Bar by way of compensation. 
He was not, however, to have absolute possession of these 
territories ; at his death they were to revert to the French 
Crown. 

Though Charles VI had not scrupled to baffle the expec- 
tations of his guest for the space of twelve years, he shrank 
from the proposal to fleece him outright. But Fleury was 
obdurate, and the bait of a long-coveted Pragmatic Sanction 
guarantee was irresistible. It was agreed that the Duke 
of Lorraine should be advised to surrender his patrimony in 
return for immediate marriage with Archduchess Theresa 
and the reversion of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. 

Francis, as was to be expected, regarded the scheme with 
unqualified aversion. What was Tuscany to him in com- 
parison with the great memories that clustered about the 
name of Lorraine?. His mother vigorously opposed the 
relinquishment of any part of his inheritance; his subjects 
naturally protested. The Duke urged his point of view at 
Vienna. He consulted Robinson as to a possible intervention 
of George II. It was all in vain. So far as France and 
Austria were concerned, the infamous transaction was com- 
plete. Bartenstein was commissioned to draw up the formal 
documents and extort the assent of Francis. " The man 
in the ill-humour " is Robinson's favourite description of 
Bartenstein. And certainly towards those who failed to 
agree with him the secretary showed himself brusque and 
overbearing to the last degree. His boundless self-confidence 
was not without justification. The son of a professor at 
Strasburg, he owed his position to sheer ability. With his 



52 MARIA THERESA 

unrivalled knowledge of the intricacies of Imperial juris- 
prudence it was natural that he should betake himself to 
Vienna, where he soon gained a footing on the official 
ladder. Thence he made his way to the nominal post of 
Secretary to the Cabinet, or, as it was called in Austria, 
the Ministerial Conference. Virtually Bartenstein became 
the most indispensable and powerful of all the civil func- 
tionaries. On his convenient shoulders Charles VI piled 
the disagreeable business of the State, and generally found 
the Secretary's energy and resourcefulness equal to the 
burden. Thus when Francis of Lorraine declined to take 
a step which would leave him without a country of his own, 
Bartenstein merely replied that Bar must be relinquished 
immediately, but that he could keep Lorraine until the death 
of the last of the Medici left the thiione of Tuscany vacant. 
The Duke's further plea that there should be no undue haste 
in coming to a decision simply irritated his tormentor. 
" No abdication, no Archduchess," quoth the relentless Bar- 
tenstein. And Francis ultimately consented to renounce his 
duchy when the Italian substitute should be available. 

As the year 1735 drew to a close, Robinson reported 
" great talk of the approaching marriage." Early in 1736 
the preliminary arrangements were complete. On January 
31st Francis of Lorraine, having made formal request for 
the hand of the Archduchess, was received in state by the 
Emperor, the Empress Elizabeth, and their elder daughter. 
The latter wore the Duke's gift of his portrait set in a 
brooch. This was in accordance with a custom of the 
period, whereby the lover sent his portrait to the object 
of his affection. If she wore it at their next meeting it 
signified acceptance of the offer of marriage. In the present 
instance it indicated that for Francis and Theresa the long 
years of waiting and uncertainty were over — the day of 
their betrothal had come at last. 

On the morrow the Hall of Knights was filled with a 
company as distinguished as that which had gathered within 
its walls to witness the christening of the Archduchess. 
Indeed, many of those present could recall the former cere- 
mony and realize the flight of time as they gazed at the tall 
slender girl, whose nineteenth birthday was not far off, 
with her shining eyes, her shining golden hair, and radiant 



THE WAR OF THE POLISH SUCCESSION 53 

expression. To-day, they had assembled to listen to her so- 
called renunciation — a last concession to her father's peculiar 
craze. First came a little speech from the Emperor to his 
guests. Then Chancellor Sinzendorff read over the formu- 
lary ,whereby Archduchess Maria Theresa renounced the 
succession for herself and her descendants if the long- 
expected male heir should after all be born. With her 
hand upon the Gospels she took the required oath. That 
part of the vow which had reference to descendants was 
likewise sworn to by Francis of Lorraine. He further 
undertook that, in his own person, he would never claim 
any part of the Habsburg dominions. 

The ceremony over, Francis set out for Pressburg. During 
the interval between the renunciation on February 1st and 
the marriage on February 1 2th a few brief notes were 
exchanged by the lovers — curious little missives in which 
the language of passionate devotion alternates with the 
stilted phraseology of convention. The first communication 
is from the absent bridegroom. 

" Most Serene Archduchess, my Angel Bride, 

" Having received from His Majesty the Emperor 
most gracious permission to write to your dearness, I can 
no longer refrain from profiting by this act of condescen- 
sion. Dearest, it will not be difficult for you to believe 
that nothing is harder for me than to approach you by letter 
instead of throwing myself at your feet. Let my dearest of 
all brides be fully assured that in all the world there is no 
bridegroom more entirely devoted and reverential than my 
angel bride's most faithful servant 

"Franz." 

The bride's reply was obviously supervised in so far as 
the note itself, written throughout in German, was con- 
cerned. It contrasts oddly with the delightful postscript, 
in a jumble of languages, which the writer contrived to 
scribble on the back of her communication while the oblig- 
ing messenger waited. 



54 MARIA THERESA 

" Most Serene Duke, much-loved Bridegroom, 

" Your dear writing rejoiced me greatly. I am 
fully persuaded that you would rather have assured me of 
your affection in person than by letter. And you too, I 
doubt not, will believe that that is precisely how I feel 
myself. It is good that our separation is not for long. 
I trust there will be fewer partings in our future, much- 
longed-for life together. I assure you that as long as I 
have any being I will remain your most faithful bride. 

" Maria Theresa. 
"Vienna, February 8th, 1736. 

" POSTSCRIPT.— Dear Heart, I am infinitely obliged to 
you for your kindness in sending me news of yourself. I 
was a poor, miserable, anxious creature before your message 
came. Love me a little, and forgive me if I do not say 
much by way of answer. It is ten o'clock, and Herbeville 
is waiting for my letter. Farewell, dear Mouse. I embrace 
you with all my heart. Take care of yourself. Adieu, 
dear one. 

" Je suis la votre sponsia dilectissima. " 

" I have this moment received my dearest 's gracious 
letter," writes Francis on the following day. " It is no 
small comfort to me, separated as I am from you. I assure 
you the days seem unendurable on which I do not see my 
dearest of all brides. I would be very downcast if I did 
not constantly remember our forthcoming union on Sunday, 
at the Church of the Augustines. Thereafter my happiness 
will be complete." 

There is no postscript to the written-to-order acknow- 
ledgment of this note. Francis, however, professes him- 
self " greatly obliged " for his betrothed's " condescension " 
in replying to his second epistolary effort. " These lines," 
he continues, " are the last written token of devotion which 
I shall lay at your feet. To-morrow I leave here for 
Vienna. The day after to-morrow I hope to arrive at the 
appointed time. I shall count the moments until I come to 
the one which will rid me of care and anxiety, and make 
me perfectly happy." 



THE WAR OF THE POLISH SUCCESSION 55 

On the evening of February 12th, 1736, the marriage was 
celebrated with a certain dignified simplicity. By covered 
way and private staircase the bridal procession passed from 
the Hofburg to the church of the adjacent convent of the 
Augustine (or Austin) friars. It was also the church of 
the Austrian Court, its great chancel being well adapted for 
State functions. Of all the ceremonies that have taken place 
beneath its roof, the wedding of Maria Theresa was by far 
the most important. The dispatches of the British Am- 
bassador contain interesting details of the event. When the 
invited guests had assembled, " the Duke of Lorraine, 
dressed in white d V antique, with a mantle of silver tissue," 
appeared with the Emperor. " Afterwards came the Arch- 
duchess, likewise in white, supported by the two Empresses," 
her train borne by Countess Fuchs, promoted to the office 
of Mistress of the new Household. " What was most re- 
markable about the bride's dress was, that besides the 
other incumbrances of great loads of diamonds upon her 
head and neck, the very robe itself was embroidered, to 
use that expression, with diamonds." A truly masculine 
piece of description! "The Papal Nuncio celebrated the 
marriage in the quality of perpetual curate to the Imperial 
Court, and by a particular commission as the Pope's dele- 
gate." 

After the actual ceremony the bride and bridegroom 
returned to their original places, and the Te Deum was 
sung to the accompaniment of drums and trumpets. Then 
returned to their original places, and the Te Deum was 
the service was over and the wedding procession on its way 
from the church to the banqueting-hall. 

To bride and bridegroom there had thus been given the 
desire of their hearts, though both had to pay a price for 
happiness. The wife had still to learn all that was implied 
in the alienation of Bavaria. The husband had no chance of 
forgetting that he had been cut adrift from every tie which 
bound him to the past history of his race. Robinson tells 
how the Duke's subjects came to the wedding in great 
numbers and with great magnificence. " They have given," 
says he, " a remarkable, though it may be last, instance 
of their duty and affection for the House of Lorraine." As 
for the Duke and his consort, the Ambassador justly re- 



56 



MARIA THERESA 



marks that " few persons of their high rank have had the 
advantage of founding their mutual desires and sentiments 
upon a personal acquaintance for so long a time before 
their marriage, which particularly gives the greater beauty 
to the inscription of a medal struck upon this occasion, 
namely, Votorum tandem compotes." x 



1 Having' at length the fruition of our desires. 



CHAPTER VI 

MARIA THERESA AS DUCHESS OF LORRAINE AND 
GRAND DUCHESS OF TUSCANY— DEATH OF 
CHARLES VI 

THE various State celebrations in honour of the mar- 
riage were duly graced by the presence of the 
bride and bridegroom. But before the honeymoon 
was over they set out on a pilgrimage to Mariazell, in 
Styria. No eyes had they for the picturesque surroundings 
of the little village which was their goal. The great, 
many-towered church of Mariazell alone possessed attraction 
for them. In 1736 it was a recently completed structure. 
Enclosed within it was the ancient chapel of a wonder- 
working image of the Madonna and Child. At this inner 
shrine the newly wedded Duke and Duchess knelt to in- 
voke divine protection and guidance in the new life that 
stretched before them like another pilgrim's way. 

Hardships encountered them at the very outset. They 
returned to their apartments in the Hofburg to find that 
during their absence " difficulties had arisen about the time 
of the immission of King Stanislaus into Lorraine. For the 
Imperial Court had negotiated itself into slavish dependence 
on France, and France was greedy to have immediate pos- 
session of the duchy." 1 The new development was a 
blow to the Emperor's son-in-law, who had built consider- 
able hopes on the undertaking that the sacrifice was not to 
be exacted forthwith. The nobles whose interest in their 
ruler's marriage had brought them from Lorraine to Vienna 
had not yet returned home. They were instant in petition- 
ing both Duke and Emperor not to make over to France 

1 Robinson. 
57 



58 MARIA THERESA 

a country which had taken no active part in the War of 
the Polish Succession. The chief spokesman on their side 
was Prince Charles of Lorraine. As heir-presumptive to 
the duchy, he had a peculiar right to be heard. On the 
other side was the somewhat abject figure of His Imperial 
Majesty, fearful lest France should withdraw her guarantee 
of the Pragmatic Sanction, fearful also lest " the Termagant 
of Spain " should contrive to establish Don Philip on the 
throne of Tuscany. Francis was constrained to realize that, 
so far as Charles VI was concerned, the fate of Lorraine 
was sealed. 

Naturally enough no assurance of compensation elsewhere 
could take from the bitterness of the Duke's enforced re- 
nunciation of the crown of his ancestors. Even the diplo- 
matist who negotiated on behalf of France was moved by 
the young man's sorrowful reluctance to sign the instrument 
of abdication. Three times he took up the pen, only to let 
it fall again. Convinced at last that there was no outlet 
for escape, he put his name to the document which made 
Lorraine a province of France till 1870 (April, 1736). 

It is difficult to conceive that the Emperor would have 
yielded so tamely to the demands of Cardinal Fleury if, in 
place of Bartenstein, Eugene had been the pilot of the 
State. When the crisis arose it was still possible for Charles 
to take counsel with the greatest and most trustworthy of 
his advisers. Eugene's mental powers were little impaired, 
but seventy-two years of strenuous life had worn him out 
physically. He could no longer draw up lengthy memorials 
or attend conferences at the Hofburg. Charles, however, 
did not see his way to set aside the law of etiquette, which 
precluded the monarch from going to a minister's residence 
in order to consult him. 

On April 20th, nine days after the abdication of the 
Duke of Lorraine, Eugene presided over a meeting of the 
Privy Council, which was held at his own palace. When 
his servants entered his room next morning, " they found 
him extinguished in his bed like a taper." 1 Death had 
come easily to the lonely old man, who had served his day 
and generation so faithfully. A lion in his menagerie had 

1 Sir Thomas Robinson. 




PRINCE EUGENE 

AFTER A PORTRAIT BY VAN SCHOPl'EN 



MARIA THERESA AS DUCHESS OF LORRAINE 59 

wakened many sleepers by roaring loudly at three in the 
morning. This incident, according to popular belief, in- 
dicated the hour at which "the noble knight " had passed 
away. " He was the real emperor," said Crown Prince 
Frederick of Prussia. It was a sinister fate that deprived 
Austria of her powerful protector when her rulers had just 
given unmistakable proof of weakness and malleability. 

The Dowager Duchess of Lorraine was nearly beside 
herself with grief for the loss of the principality. Her 
letters express in no measured terms her utter disgust with 
the way in which her son's abdication had been brought 
about. She rejected with scorn the offer of a residence in 
Brussels. The Emperor's proposal that Francis should be- 
come Governor-General of the Netherlands made the sug- 
gestion all the more distasteful. The irate Duchess declared 
that she had no desire to see either her son or his wife. 
If she were forced to leave the duchy she would rather go 
to Paris and claim her rights as a princess of France than 
be dependent on the Emperor; but all she asked was to 
end her days in Lorraine. She was somewhat appeased 
when Francis contrived that her wish should be respected. 
Nancy and Luneville were given up to Stanislaus. But 
henceforward the Duchess had her own little Court at Com- 
mercy. She was further mollified when Francis used his 
influence to arrange a marriage between his elder sister 
and the King of Sardinia, and to obtain the Emperor's 
secret promise that Prince Charles of Lorraine should be- 
come the husband of Archduchess Marianne. A letter 
from her daughter-in-law, with important news, seems to 
have gone far to complete the work of reconciliation. The 
prospective grandmother ceased to bear a grudge against 
her son and his consort, though she continued to lament the 
fate of her adopted country. In a communication ad- 
dressed to Francis she says: "Your wife has written me 
the friendliest letter in the world, full of kindness for you 
and for myself. I beg you to thank her for it, and to 
assure her that I reciprocate her good wishes. I pray God 
to bless you both and the child who will be born to you. 
May it be a fine prince, who will bring us to the end of 
some of our troubles." That the expected infant might 
be a prince was also the fervent desire of the maternal 



60 MARIA THERESA 

grandparents. Alas for the vanity of human wishes! On 
February 3rd, 1737, the young Duchess of Lorraine gave 
birth to a daughter. 

When time had taken the sting out of Charles VI's dis- 
appointment, he became strongly attached to his first grand- 
child. After the Empress she was named Elizabeth, and 
she certainly suffered from no lack of care during her 
infancy. Mindful of the old stories of the unsatisfactoriness 
of foster-mothers, Maria Theresa disregarded convention 
and nursed her baby herself. 

Though the Duke of Lorraine was nominated Governor 
of the Netherlands early in 1736, certain formalities had 
to be complied with before he could proceed to Brussels. 
The dilatory Austrian officials did not complete these pre- 
liminary arrangements for a whole year. By that time 
Imperial policy had entered on a new phase, and Francis had 
become more eager for a military than a civil appointment. 

When the combined action of the Courts of Vienna and 
St. Petersburg had reduced the Poles to submission, the 
Russian Empress, Anne, determined to pursue her favourite 
scheme of conquest at the expense of Turkey. A pretext 
for invading that country was speedily found, and, before 
the Turks could organize resistance, Azov was besieged and 
the Crimea overrun. In their distress the Turks appealed 
for a mediator from among the European Powers. With 
subtle intent Austria undertook the office. Dazzled by the 
success of Russia, Charles VI saw no reason why like good 
fortune should not attend his own arms. Then would he 
be able to recoup himself in the East for his losses in the 
recent war. Designedly, therefore, the terms of pacification 
proposed by him to the Turks were made too hard for 
acceptance, albeit the alternative was a prospect of being 
crushed between the forces of the Emperor and the Czarina. 

Amongst the volunteers in the Imperial army were Francis 
of Lorraine and his brother. The former might have pro- 
ceeded to Italy instead of to the Balkan provinces, for 
the Grand Duke of Tuscany died in July, 1737. But after 
taking steps to safeguard his interests in the duchy, the new 
Duke set out in quest of military renown. In the first 
campaign his record was good, but he gave no evidence 
of such exceptional ability as would have justified his ap- 



MARIA THERESA AS DUCHESS OF LORRAINE 61 

pointment as Commander-in-Chief. Yet it was in this 
capacity that, after an interval in Vienna, he returned to the 
seat of war. In the first campaign Austria had fared 
badly. The early operations of the second, that of 1738, 
were marked by some degree of success ; but disasters 
followed. Marshal Konigsegg, whjo had been deputed to 
serve as Chief of the Staff and adviser to the young General, 
pushed caution to the verge of timidity, and was found 
wanting in sudden emergencies. The Duke himself was 
frequently prostrated with the fever which wrought havoc 
amongst the rank and file of the army. Contrary to all 
expectation, the Turks began to make headway against both 
enemies. In place of annexing fresh territories the Austrian 
Government were brought face to face with the possibility 
of having to forfeit the spoils of the victories of Prince 
Eugene. 

The close of the campaign found Konigsegg deprived of 
his command, and Francis practically in the same position. 
To the latter a second daughter (Marianne) was born in 
October, 1738. This was regarded by the people as an 
additional grievance. The outcry against the Princes of 
Lorraine overcame the Emperor's reluctance to be even 
temporarily parted from his daughter. The Tuscans had 
more than once protested against the continued absence 
of their new ruler. It was therefore arranged that Francis 
should betake himself to Italy with his wife and brother, 
and stay there till the storm blew over. On December 1 7th, 
1738, they set out for Florence. It was not the best 
season of the year for a journey through mountainous 
country, but in other respects there was no question of its 
timeliness. The happiness of Maria Theresa's first year 
of married life had been succeeded by experiences so trying 
that in after days she shrank from recalling them. To her 
the outbreak of war had meant the pain of separation from 
her husband, constant anxiety about his health and safety, 
and, latterly, the wretchedness of feeling that heartache, 
suspense, and loneliness had been endured in vain. Nothing, 
therefore, could have been more opportune than this visit 
to Tuscany. In Central Europe the season had been un- 
usually mild. Even in the upland regions of Carinthia 
and Southern Tyrol the snow was not deep enough to 



62 MARIA THERESA 

block the roads. From time to time the travellers heard 
disquieting rumours of an epidemic with some of the symp- 
toms of plague, but they arrived safe and sound in the 
famous city of Trent, where they were hospitably enter- 
tained by the Prince-Bishop. 

On resuming their journey, a few more stages brought 
them to the Venetian frontier. Here they were received 
with all due honour, but the authorities absolutely refused 
to allow their Grand Ducal Highnesses to proceed further 
until they had been fourteen days in quarantine. The in- 
terference with prearranged functions was vexatious. The 
villa allotted to the travellers was ill-adapted for the colder 
weather which set in with the new year. Though they 
were all naturally disposed to make the best of things, 
time hung heavily on their hands, and they tended to brood 
over recent mishaps. Recalling the experience in later life, 
Maria Theresa admitted that she was desperately home- 
sick. She missed the children who had received so much 
of her attention. The younger baby had necessarily been 
handed over to a wet-nurse. Whether or not she received 
proper care during her mother's absence, the fact remains 
that Archduchess Marianne was always more or less of an 
invalid. 

Weary of the delay and discomfort, the Grand Duke 
appealed to the Venetian Senate for a shortening of the 
period of detention. When this was refused he took the 
law into his own hands and escaped with his companions 
to Mantua, where they were on Imperial territory. Thence, 
by way of Bologna, they reached the Tuscan frontier. On 
January 20th, 1739, more than a month after their depar- 
ture from Vienna, the Grand Duke and his consort made 
their state entry into Florence. At the cathedral they were 
welcomed by the archbishop and all the leading ecclesiastics 
and Government officials. After a thanksgiving service the 
procession was re-formed, and the Grand Duke and Duchess 
were escorted to their residence — the Pitti Palace. 

Demonstrations of enthusiasm for the stranger who had 
been imposed on them as sovereign were not to be ex- 
pected from the Florentines; but there was no exhibition 
of actual hostility such as marked the entry of Stanislaus 
into Nancy, the capital of Lorraine. Even before his arrival 



MARIA THERESA AS DUCHESS OF LORRAINE 63 

Francis had created a good impression by his tactful con- 
sideration of the sister of his predecessor, Maria de' Medici, 
the widowed Electress Palatine. She had been offered the 
position of regent, and although this was declined she was 
left in undisturbed occupation of her apartments at the 
Pitti. 

Her reception of the founders of the new dynasty was 
merely formal, but she was not proof against their manifest 
desire for a good understanding with her. The joint occu- 
pants of the Palace were soon on amicable terms, a circum- 
stance which contributed in no small measure to the peace- 
ful installation of a foreigner as Grand Duke. Not for 
years had there been so much life and gaiety in Florence 
as in the first days of the visit of Francis and Maria Theresa. 
Prince Charles of Lorraine, as heir-presumptive, also came 
in for his full share of attention at the various social and 
public festivities. There were numerous dramatic and other 
performances, and for three nights the city was illuminated. 

In Tuscany, as in Hungary, Francis did his utmost to 
comprehend the needs and conditions of the country. A 
contemporary English traveller tells how he and his brother 
" met the Grand Duke and Duchess of Tuscany within a 
little way of Siena. We stopped our chaise till they were 
past by. The Duke was going from Florence to visit 
Siena and the other parts of his dominions. The whole 
country of Tuscany," continues the writer, " is very pleasant, 
abounding with fine hills and fruitful vales, rivers and 
fountains, and many delightful prospects, in a serene and 
healthful air, and might become a happy country if the 
present Grand Duke can keep it in peaceable possession, 
and would give his subjects proper encouragement to im- 
prove their native commodities, and protection from the 
tyranny and oppression of the clergy." 1 

These objects were held by Francis himself to be emin- 
ently desirable. Had he been the resident governor of his 
comparatively small state he would probably have attained 
them, and ushered in a brighter day for Tuscany. The 
prospect of peace was to some extent assured by the stipu- 
lation that the duchy was never to form part of the here- 

1 Whatley, A Short Account of a Late Journey to Tuscany, 1741. 



64 MARIA THERESA 

ditary dominions of Austria, that it was exempt from obliga- 
tion to support the Pragmatic Sanction, and that the sover- 
eignty was to pass either to the second son of Francis or 
to his brother. 

As an absentee ruler Francis could do little to keep the 
people from being preyed upon by swarms of monks, friars, 
and other ecclesiastics who, in the towns, sometimes con- 
stituted the bulk of the population. They were dangerous 
political opponents. Even during the Duke's sojourn in 
Florence they incited the citizens against him, " and had 
to be kept in some decorum by German and Swiss sol- 
diers." l 

The efforts of Francis to revive the commerce and in- 
dustry of the country were not sufficiently disinterested to 
be of much benefit to his subjects. For the profits of 
successful enterprise were systematically diverted from Tus- 
cany to Austria. By the month of April Charles VI was 
becoming impatient for the return of the absent members 
of his household. Francis regretted the necessity he was 
under of leaving his duchy at the end of three months and 
before he had completed his arrangements for its future 
government. His wife, who was enjoying the springtide 
in Italy, was equally loath to obey the summons. But 
obeyed it had to be. " The Grand Duke's friends at Flor- 
ence," says the contemporary traveller, " are erecting a 
magnificent triumphal arch in honour to him, about the 
same size as those of Severus and Constantine at Rome, so 
that we imagine he intends soon to make them a second 
visit, and render himself as acceptable to them as possible 
by some act of popularity." 2 The uninteresting modern 
arch was fortunately placed outside the wall of ancient 
Florence. It is still standing just beyond the Porta San 
Gallo. But Francis never saw it finished. One thing or 
another interfered with his long-cherished intention of re- 
visiting Tuscany. On April 27th, 1739, the Grand Duke 
and Duchess had their last glimpse of Florence. Then they 
passed beyond its crumbling city wall and journeyed north- 
ward to Milan. 

Here they were once more in Imperial territory. It was 

1 Whatley, A Short Account of a Late Journey to Tuscany^ 1741. 

2 Whatley, ib. 






MARIA THERESA AS DUCHESS OF LORRAINE 65 

therefore incumbent on the Emperor's daughter to hold 
receptions and attend public functions ; but her consort 
went on from Milan to Turin to visit his sister and brother- 
in-law, the King and Queen of Sardinia. He was destined 
to see all the members of his family in the course of this 
journey, for his mother and younger sister proposed to 
meet the travellers at Innsbruck. When, therefore, he 
had rejoined his wife, they set out afresh, and traversed 
the whole County of Tyrol from south to north until they 
reached the little capital hidden away behind its barricade 
of mountains. Francis is known to have objected strongly 
to the feeling of being shut in by hiills, and it is to be 
feared that his companions were equally unappreciative of 
the grandeur of the scenery through which they passed. At 
the end of the journey came the first meeting between 
Maria Theresa and her mother-in-law, the complete recon- 
ciliation of the latter to her elder son, and a week of such 
pleasant intercourse that it must have given rise to a desire 
to repeat the experience. It happened, however, that during 
the remaining five years of the life of the Dowager Duchess, 
the times were too much out of joint for family reunions 
to be practicable. She returned to Lorraine with her 
daughter in the last days of May, while Francis and his 
wife continued their journey, to Vienna, from which they 
had been absent for six months. 

Another campaign against the Turks was on the point 
of beginning, and Francis was with difficulty persuaded to 
forego his intention of rejoining the army. There was no 
disputing his plea that some notable achievement would 
fully reinstate him in public favour, but the Emperor realized 
that there were other possibilities, and he would not risk 
any further association of his son-in-law with untoward 
occurrences. As it was, the people had been demanding 
the marriage of Archduchess Marianne to the Prince of 
Bavaria, and an alteration of the succession in her favour. 
Charles' main reason for cutting short the visit of his elder 
daughter to Italy was the well-founded apprehension of an 
attempt to prevent her return to Austria. 

The command of the army was therefore entrusted to 
Marshal Wallis; but the result was the ruin of another 
military reputation. Wallis was defeated in battle, and 
5 



66 MARIA THERESA 

Belgrade was besieged by the Turks. Well might Charles 
VI exclaim that the glory of Austria had departed with 
Prince Eugene. Under the direction of a great leader 
subordinate commanders had achieved distinction. Left to 
their own resources they had, so far, been found wanting. 

Dread of some overwhelming disaster impelled Charles 
to withdraw from the war. General Neipperg was com- 
missioned to make peace with the Turks. This task also 
was of supreme importance, and it had been given to the 
wrong man. Neipperg was far too precipitate in his deal- 
ings with the enemy. The conquests of Prince Eugene were 
ruthlessly sacrificed. In particular, the loss of Belgrade 
aroused widespread indignation. Wallis and Neipperg were 
sent to different fortresses; but their imprisonment could 
not bring back the forfeited territories. A rumour got 
afloat that Neipperg's action had been instigated by the 
Grand Duke of Tuscany, to whose establishment the General 
had formerly been attached. It was a baseless supposition, 
but none the less mischievous in its effect. Francis con- 
tinued to devote himself to the business of the State, and 
retained his office of President of the Privy Council; but 
his influence on its decisions declined perceptibly. " Our 
only hope," said one of his faithful adherents, " rests on 
the birth of a prince." And that hope sank very low when 
in January, 1740, a third daughter was born to the Grand 
Duke and Duchess of Tuscany. 

The infant only lived a year, but the pent-up disappoint- 
ment of many years found utterance at her unwelcome 
advent. The people took for granted that the Grand Ducal 
nursery would be filled with an unbroken series of daughters, 
and the party in favour of a Bavarian succession multiplied 
alarmingly. " Will it never be granted to me to see a 
male heir of my race?." exclaimed the disconsolate Emperor. 
Depressed and out of health, he almost gave way to despair. 
In the preceding autumn he had written to Bartenstein, 
"I am nearing the last moments of my fifty-fourth year. 
It takes several years of my life with it, but that is of little 
consequence. God's will be done. May He give me 
strength to endure for a while, that I may more fully, 
repent of my many sins." 

The conviction of failing health redoubled the Emperor's 



MARIA THERESA AS DUCHESS OF LORRAINE 67 

anxiety for the future of his beloved Theresa. Yet he still 
hesitated to take the step which would have strengthened 
her position and given her the title of Empress. He 
may have mistrusted his power to bring about the elevation 
of Francis to the rank of King of the Romans at a time 
when the Duke's popularity was on the wane. Or per- 
chance he anticipated less difficulty in obtaining the 
suffrages of the Electors for a grandson. More probably 
he was influenced by that hope of a direct heir, always 
latent in the back of his mind. The Empress Elizabeth 
was falling into invalid ways. Had she predeceased him, 
there is not the slightest doubt that Charles would have 
considered it his duty to marry again. ' 

It was, however, his own health which gave rise to 
anxiety as the year 1740 wore away, though he suffered 
from no special complaint, and there was no interruption 
of his ordinary routine. When Easter was over, the Court 
took its usual ten-mile journey to Laxenburg.. There, during 
the spring months, the Imperial Family occupied a wood- 
land residence of modest dimensions, and spent their time 
in hawking and other outdoor amusements. In the summer 
they returned to Vienna, that is to say, to the Emperor's 
suburban palace — the Favorita. The Hofburg was not re- 
occupied till the approach of winter. 

But no change of place or occupation could do more 
than temporarily disperse the gloom which had oppressed 
the Emperor since the disastrous termination of the Turkish 
War. The loss of Servia and part of Wallachia was dis- 
tressing enough, but the shame of the surrender of Bel- 
grade was, Charles maintained, bringing him to his grave. 
The decease of the King of Prussia on May 31st, 1740, was 
regarded by him as a reminder of the uncertainty of life. 
Within a fortnight death had indeed entered the Imperial 
family. On June 7th the eldest daughter of the Grand 
Duke and Duchess of Tuscany was seized with a violent 
form of gastric affection, to which she succumbed on the 
following day. " She promised a great deal beyond what 
was to have been expected from her little age. The Grand 
Duchess was inconsolable." 1 The Emperor, too, was com- 

1 Robinson to Mr. Weston, June nth, 1740. 



68 MARIA THERESA 

pletely overcome by the loss of his eldest and favourite 
grandchild. The little three-year-old Elizabeth had en- 
twined herself round his affections very much as her mother 
had done in days gone by. Much of his interest in life 
seemed to depart with her. 

Early in October Charles set out with his family for an 
annual visit to Hungary. His spirits had slightly revived. 
His daughter's renewed expectation of motherhood had 
kindled some faint hope that the next arrival might not 
be a girl, and he had a whole series of hunting expeditions 
in prospect. 

Undeterred by raw, unsettled weather, he was out day 
after day. He caught cold, but could not be persuaded to 
forego his favourite diversion till symptoms of acute irrita- 
tion of the digestive organs set in. That he fainted several 
times during the return journey to Vienna seems to indicate 
the complication of heart weakness. The physicians differed 
as to the cause of disease. Their remedies afforded relief 
for a day or two. Then the alarming symptoms recurred, 
and there was soon no doubt as to the gravity of his con- 
dition. With the calmness of one preparing for an ordinary 
journey, he issued directions to his ministers with regard 
to his own funeral and his daughter's accession. He sent 
for her old friend " Father Palffy," and bespoke his in- 
terest on her behalf. An interval of comparative relief from 
pain was spent in advising her as to her future course. 
Before the interview was over she had broken down utterly, 
and her father shared the opinion of the doctors that for 
her the excitement of further leave-taking would be un- 
desirable. During the remaining days of his life the Em- 
peror's private instructions for the guidance of his successor 
were imparted to his son-in-law, together, no doubt, with 
expressions of confidence similar to those which Francis 
had received by letter during his residence in Italy. " It 
is my greatest comfort," His Majesty had written then, " to 
know that my daughter is in such good hands. I am 
assured of her love for you. I trust it may increase more 
and more, and that, during her absence from me, you will 
be to her in all things both husband and father." 

It was too late to come to any definite decision concerning 
the marriage of Archduchess Marianne ; that was now a 



MARIA THERESA AS DUCHESS OF LORRAINE 69 

question for the policy of the next reign. But the sisters 
were devoted to one another, and there was no reason to 
fear that the matter would not be satisfactorily arranged. 
" Do not grieve," said the Emperor to Charles of Lorraine, 
when he noticed that the young man had tears in his eyes. 
" Do not grieve, even though you are losing a true friend." 

In the ordering of his affairs, Charles VI made careful 
provision for the future comfort of the wife who could 
hardly be induced to leave him day or night. He confided 
her interests to the special care of Count Starhemberg, his 
Minister of Finance, and sought to console her by words of 
affection and encouragement. 

A week after his return from Hungary, Charles received 
the last Sacraments. He had then but two days to live. 
Once, with a sudden access of strength, he raised himself 
and, turning so as to face the apartments of his dearly 
loved elder daughter, he uttered the benediction she could 
not come to receive. At times his mind wandered back to 
his youthful days in Spain. Amidst scarcely audible speech 
the one unmistakable word was " Barcelona " — the name of 
the city where he had first been acclaimed as king, where 
he had received his wife and fallen in love with her, the city 
whose cruel treatment by the supporters of Philip V he 
never ceased to regret. On October 20th, 1740, in the 
fifty-sixth year of his age, and the thirtieth of his reign, 
the father of Maria Theresa passed away. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA— INVASION 
OF SILESIA BY FREDERICK OF PRUSSIA— BIRTH 
OF THE ARCHDUKE JOSEPH 

THE dispatches of Sir Thomas Robinson give a vivid 
picture of the state of panic which prevailed in 
Vienna " from the time the Emperor's sickness 
became serious." That the outlook was threatening could 
not be denied. Upon the labouring classes especially the 
burden of taxation pressed with exceeding heaviness. It 
was natural that they should resent the discreditable issue of 
the later wars, and evince small confidence in their rulers. 
The British envoy saw reason to fear that " a stroke so 
unprovided for as the death of His Majesty might lead 
to the people throwing themselves absolutely upon the 
mercy of France"; or, what amounted to much the 
same thing, upon the mercy of Bavaria supported by 
France. 

The virtual extermination of the Protestant nobles, in the 
early seventeenth century, had led to the creation of a new 
aristocracy, dependent on the Emperor. This did not, as 
had been expected, conduce to the stability of the throne in 
a time of stress. The recipients of Imperial bounty mani- 
fested, for the most part, complete indifference as to what 
might happen, provided they were left in the undisputed 
i LJ'pyment of all their privileges and emoluments. 

The Ministers of State, men advanced in years and woe- 
»ui.ly lacking in initiative, were terror-stricken "upon the 
approaching danger of losing their master. The Turks 
seemed to them already in Hungary, the Hungarians them- 
selves in arms, the Saxons in Bohemia, the Bavarians 

70 



THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA 71 

at the gates of Vienna, and France the soul of the 
whole." 1 

In striking contrast to the agitation and dejection of the 
Ministers was the quiet assumption of responsibility by the 
woman who might have been excused for any shrinking 
from the immediate obligations of her position. She had 
scarcely recovered from the physical prostration which fol- 
lowed her last interview with her father, and which had 
excited grave apprehension of the loss of her unborn child. 
That fear had happily been dispelled. Still, it must have 
involved no inconsiderable effort on her part to give 
audience to the representatives of the chief Departments of 
State a few hours after the Emperor's death. They found 
the successor to the throne not yet seated thereon, but stand- 
ing on its step. The dark velvet of the canopy and her 
own sombre garments threw into relief the wonderful fair- 
ness of her complexion. To the assembled statesmen, all 
of them save Bartenstein over seventy years of age, this 
Princess of twenty-three seemed pathetically young and 
unfit to be burdened with the cares of sovereignty. Her 
husband's position, on her left hand and beyond the canopy 
of the throne, emphasized the fact that he could only take 
a secondary part in the government of the Habsburg coun- 
tries. 

Although, in referring to the loss she had just sustained, 
she could not keep back her tears, Maria Theresa was able 
to assure the Ministers that, for the present, she desired 
to confirm them in their various offices. They then kissed 
her hand and saluted her as Queen. For on this occasion 
she claimed her right to the titles which accrued to her as 
heiress of the Hereditary States of her dynasty, the chief 
of these being Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and reigning 
Archduchess of Austria. 

According to Robinson Her Majesty acted prudently in 
following all the ancient customs. " A demise and an 
accession in these countries are," he says, " attended with 
no very pompous circumstances. There are no proclama- 
tions, no military salutations or military oaths. Every devia- 
tion from old customs would look like a consciousness of 

1 Robinson Papers. 



72 MARIA THERESA 

some deficiency in the right of the present accession. 
The Queen of Hungary and Bohemia takes upon herself the 
government in the very same manner that a new king 
would. ' Oh ! ' cryed the Chancellor to me, ' were she 
but a man with' the very same endowments she has! ' " 

" If I am only a poor queen, I have the heart of a king," 
said Maria Theresa when some similar remark reached her 
ears. Unlikely though it seemed, she was indeed singu- 
larly well equipped for her task. The spirit of bygone 
kings made her sure of her cause and sure of herself. 
She yielded to none of her predecessors in courage and 
inflexibility of purpose. Yet she had no need to deprecate 
her womanhood. More often than not it was her feminine 
charm and tact and intuition that steered her clear of rocks 
and shoals where a male ruler of the type of her father or 
her successor would inevitably have made shipwreck. 

Her familiar correspondence is one long testimony to the 
predominant part that religion played in her life. Though 
her views on this subject were not characterized by breadth 
or tolerance, her Christianity was undoubtedly sincere and 
practical. She saw no visions and heard no mystic voices, 
but Joan of Arc herself was not more firmly convinced 
than Maria Theresa of a divine mission and of divine 
guidance in the fulfilment thereof. 

The first Ministerial Conference of the new reign took 
place the morning after the Queen's accession. She pre- 
sided in person and, as on the previous day, was accom- 
panied by her husband. She had resolved that he should 
be formally associated with her in the work of the govern- 
ment, but that was a matter for subsequent arrangement. 
How to give full effect to the law of the Pragmatic Sanction 
was the business which took precedence of everything else. 
A formal notification of the death of Charles VI and of his 
daughter's assumption of all hereditary titles was drawn up 
and dispatched to the governors of the various states and 
dominions within the monarchy, as well as to all the Courts 
of Europe. Not till the Queen had received replies to this 
circular would she be able, as Robinson puts it, " to dis- 
tinguish between the countenances of her friends and those 
of her pretended friends but real enemies." 

Three days later a second conference was held. The 



THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA 73 

general distrust of Bavaria made it imperative to take 
precautions against attack. Amongst the reverend signors 
in the Council Chamber was one who had not appeared at 
the former meeting. As old as the oldest Minister present, 
it could yet be said of Count John Palffy that his eye was 
not dim nor his natural force abated. His presence was 
due to a special summons from the new monarch. While 
waiting anxiously to see where she could look for loyal 
support, the young Queen turned with relief to the fatherly 
friend on whom she felt that she could absolutely rely. To 
his office of Judex Curiae, or Deputy-Governor, she joined 
that of Commander-in-Chief of the military forces in Hun- 
gary, thus giving him the power Which enabled him to 
become the arbiter of her own destiny, and of that of his 
native land. 

To Maria Theresa the good understanding between her 
husband and Count Palffy had always been a source of 
comfort. They both took part in the deliberations with 
regard to the condition and disposal of the troops. Of the 
regiments available for immediate service, the greater 
number were guarding the eastern frontier of Hungary from 
possible attack by the victorious Turks. It was decided 
that half this force should be ordered to Bohemia to repel 
any hostile movement on the part of the Bavarian Elector. 
Other regiments were to be rapidly mobilized and dis- 
patched to Moravia, Silesia, and Tyrol. It was no easy 
matter to bring together the men who were nominally under 
arms. Each province of the monarchy furnished its own 
contingent for the general defence of the realm and, in a 
haphazard way, found quarters for its soldiers when not 
on active service. In an army so composed there could 
be no uniform method of exercising the troops. Latterly 
they had so often been engaged on the losing side that 
they had no spirit left. 

The Grand Duke of Tuscany threw himself vigorously 
into the work of concentrating the forces of the Austrian 
provinces. The appointment of his brother, Charles of 
Lorraine, a young and almost untried soldier, to the re- 
sponsible position of Field-Marshal was not a step in the 
right direction. It was, however, excusable in the general 
dearth of experienced commanders. The same circumstance 



74 MARIA THERESA 

prompted Maria Theresa to order the release of the military 
leaders who had been expiating their failures in prison. 
They were not only set at liberty, but restored to their 
rank in the army. Neipperg resumed his friendly footing 
with the Grand Duke Francis. There were doubts as to 
the expediency of such lenient treatment, but the Queen 
maintained that gratitude would make the reinstated generals 
more zealous for her cause. 

In the first difficult days of sovereignty the propitiatory 
attitude of Maria Theresa and her consort is worthy of all 
praise. They knew full well who had been the main in- 
stigators of the opposition they had encountered during the 
closing years of the late reign. But their accession to 
power aroused no petty desire for revenge. Both husband 
and wife determined to meet all and sundry in a spirit of 
friendliness. This was clearly the wisest course for the 
young politicians, who were playing for such high stakes 
as an undivided monarchy and an Imperial crown. Never- 
theless, the complete ignoring of past injuries was unlooked 
for. It helped to break down prejudice against a female 
sovereign and to set the tide of popularity flowing in her 
direction. 

Equally judicious was her treatment of the inhabitants 
of the rural districts and the poorer citizens of Vienna. 
The severe cold, which had been fatal to Charles VI, had 
also spoiled the vintage and caused widespread destitution. 
The peasants of the villages in the neighbourhood of the 
capital took it into their heads that all authority had come 
to an end with the death of the Emperor, and that until the 
Elector of Bavaria came to assume the government they 
were free to do as they liked. Accordingly they set to 
work to destroy the game, which had been preserved for 
the pleasure of his late Majesty. Steps had to be taken to 
assert the Queen's authority and stop the indiscriminate 
slaughter. But Maria Theresa would hear of no drastic 
measures. The number of animals hitherto preserved for 
sport was, she declared, excessive. It was natural that the 
small cultivators should embrace an apparent opportunity 
of getting rid of creatures which had ruined many a promis- 
ing crop. The local magistrates were therefore instructed 
to assemble the offenders and explain to them their error, 



THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA 75 

with assurance of the royal pardon for past misdeeds, and 
a solemn warning of the punishment that awaited future 
transgressors of the law. Temptation was, however, con- 
siderably lessened by Maria Theresa's order for an im- 
mediate reduction of the quantity of game preserved for 
the convenience of royal sportsmen. In the vicinity of 
villages the creatures of the chase were henceforward to be 
kept within reasonable limits. 

Whilst taking thought for her peasant subjects, the Queen 
did not forget the poverty-stricken inhabitants of her capital. 
Lack of funds forbade any extensive scheme of relief. 
There were, however, trees that could be cut down, and 
supplies of fuel at the expense of the State kept life in 
some of the shivering citizens. But such aid as could be 
given was a mere drop in the bucket in comparison with the 
help required. So while the well-to-do members of the 
community " submitted to the late Emperor's decrees in 
a quiet, cordial, and respectful manner," at the lower end 
of the social scale disaffection steadily increased till, on 
November 22nd, 1740, it culminated in a serious riot. 

This was the day on which the nobles and chief func- 
tionaries of Upper and Lower Austria did homage to Maria 
Theresa as sovereign Archduchess, and popular discontent 
had been fomented by agents of the Bavarian party. There 
was, however, no hitch in the proceedings within the Hof- 
burg. The most important point in the speech of Maria 
Theresa to her Austrian vassals was the announcement that, 
with a view to the efficient administration of the affairs of 
the Archduchy and its provinces, she had appointed her 
consort co-Regent, albeit without infringing any of the 
provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction. In the event of 
her death while the heir to the throne was under age, the 
Grand Duke was to act as Regent during the minority. 

The association of her husband with the work of the 
government was of supreme importance to Maria Theresa. 
To do anything apart from him was painful to her. She 
could not make him king, but she longed thtt he should 
share the honour and duties of her position She also 
desired to give Francis the sort of status which ould make 
it difficult for the Electors to ignore his claim to the Imperial 
dignity By conferring upon him the Grand Mastership of 



76 MARIA THERESA 

the Order of the Golden Fleece she had already enabled him 
to take precedence of most of the princes of the Empire. 
Her kingdom of Bohemia was also an electorate. She pro- 
posed that Francis should represent her in the capacity of 
Elector, and vote for himself. 

Early in November satisfactory responses to the notifica- 
tion of her accession reached Vienna " from the most distant 
parts of the hereditary countries." Everywhere there was 
" perfect tranquility and submission to the new govern- 
ment, and most lively zeal for the service of the Queen. 
. . . There seemed to be no room for any Power, be it 
never so ill-intentioned, to hope, or never so well-inclined, 
to fear, the least intestine disturbance in these parts." 1 
- Superficial historians have represented the first weeks of 
the reign of Maria Theresa as a period spent by the Queen 
and her Ministers in a Tool's paradise of fancied security, 
and occupied, if occupied at all, with mere trivialities of 
legislation. It is difficult to conceive how such perversion 
of fact ever obtained credence. It certainly did not originate 
with those who, from points of vantage, watched the be- 
ginning of the Queen's career. Before she had been on the 
throne a month Robinson discovered " a new spirit in the 
government. The Queen," he says, " gains the hearts of 
everybody. She shows an uncommon quickness in taking, 
a like judgment in digesting, and no less resolution in sup- 
porting the weightiest affairs of State. The Grand Duke 
is indefatigable in business." Another eye-witness 2 remarks 
that the Queen was hardly giving herself sufficient time for 
eating and sleeping. 

In view of all that was achieved in a few brief weeks, 
unstinted praise is due to the young enthusiast whose grasp 
of the helm of government had proved unexpectedly firm. 
If courage, goodwill, perseverance, and determination could 
have afforded her any clue to the mazes of diplomacy, she 
would scarcely have acquiesced without protest in the foreign 
policy of her Ministers. Unfortunately it was in this 
supremely important department that she was most heavily 
handicapped by her lack of experience. The British Am- 
bassador and other observant politicians repeatedly deplored 

1 Robinson Papers. 2 Count Silva-Tarouca. 



THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA 77 

the Austrian Court's over-confident expectation of the friend- 
ship of France. Their warnings passed unheeded. To the 
artless Queen, with her high moral standpoint, it was un- 
thinkable that there would be any attempt on the part of 
that country to withhold the support for which her father 
had paid so great a price. She completely failed to per- 
ceive the danger that lurked behind the suave assurances 
of Cardinal Fleury that his Government was well-disposed to 
her cause, and that he much regretted delay in sending an 
answer to her notification, but without searching the archives 
in Paris he could not tell how to address a Queen of 
Hungary. 

The potentates with nothing to gain from a non-com- 
mittal attitude found no difficulty in phrasing their replies. 
The Elector of Saxony, who was also King of Poland, was 
profuse in his expressions of affection. The young King of 
Prussia worded his letter " to the entire satisfaction of the 
Grand Duke." George II declared his intention of culti- 
vating the friendship of the Queen, and of fulfilling his 
engagements with regard to the Pragmatic Sanction. Hol- 
land was prepared to give a similar pledge. The adhesion 
of Britain implied the support of Hanover with its electoral 
vote. The princes of the Empire were, with few excep- 
tions, ready to acknowledge the Queen's title. The Empress 
Anne of Russia died about the same time as her ally 
Charles VI, but the Regents for the young Czar, Ivan IV, 
professed friendly motives. Equally favourable replies came 
from Sardinia, Venice, and the Pope. The despondency at 
Vienna gave place to quite unwarranted exultation. Robin- 
son comments impatiently on " the pleasure of this people 
upon every letter they receive from one neighbouring Power 
or other, with the title of Queen, Sister, Majesty. It is 
not, I tell them, the acknowledging of the Queen, it is the 
acknowledgment of the Pragmatic Sanction and of the 
indivisibility of the late Emperor's possessions that is the 
present object." But those who looked only at the surface 
of things continued to believe that the sole cause for un- 
easiness lay in the attitude of the Elector of Bavaria. 

From the first he declined to recognize Maria Theresa's 
right to any new title whatsoever, and claimed the whole Habs- 
burg inheritance for himself. Reminded of his undertaking 



78 MARIA THERESA 

at the time of his marriage, he replied that he had merely 
renounced the rights of his wife, the younger daughter of 
Joseph I. His own claim, as a descendant of the daughter 
of Ferdinand I, was, he alleged, inalienable. He demanded 
that this Emperor's will should be exhibited to the Bavarian 
Ambassador, thus it would be put beyond dispute that 
Ferdinand had bequeathed the succession to the male heirs 
of his daughter if there should be any failure of male heirs 
to his sons. After some delay and much argument the will 
was produced, but the Elector's cause was not thereby ad- 
vanced. The adjective to which such importance had been 
attributed proved to be not male, but legitimate. 

The least wary of governments might have been roused 
to suspicion when, instead of professing himself satisfied 
with the inspection of the document, the Elector recalled his 
envoy from Vienna. And this while Fleury seemed no 
nearer the end of his researches in the archives. But 
Bartenstein still pooh-poohed the idea of any collusion be- 
tween the two Powers. Even a letter from Frederick of 
Prussia to the Grand Duke gave rise to no uneasiness, 
although the writer commented on the perilous position 
of the Queen of Hungary and volunteered to come to her 
support, with the significant addition that the Court must 
be quick with its resolutions. 

Rapidity of decision was the last thing to be expected 
from the Court while its principal thought was to be ac- 
knowledged by France, and thereafter to maintain a strict 
neutrality. Without French support, Charles Albert of Ba- 
varia would be forced to abandon his claims. Neutrality 
meant time to effect improvement in the condition of the 
army and the finances. 

Had Fleury's control of the foreign policy of his country 
been as undisputed as heretofore, Bartenstein 's blind confi- 
dence in his fidelity might have been fully justified. As 
it happened, an influence diametrically opposed to that of 
the Cardinal had, for some time, been at work at the Court 
of Versailles, It was the influence of Charles Fouquet, 
Comte de Belleisle, the persistent advocate of aggressive 
measures for extending the power of the House of Bourbon. 
At the French Court, " Belleisle was thought to be a man 
of supreme skill both in war and in diplomacy. He was 



THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA 79 

certainly fit for many things and full of ambition to distin- 
guish himself. With grand schemes, with fiery notions and 
convictions, which captivate men's minds more easily than 
eloquence," x he had a considerable following, especially 
amongst the younger noblemen. 

The more vigilant European statesmen had an inkling of 
the strength of this war party and surmised its hostility to 
the provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction. But neither 
Sinzendorf nor Bartenstein could read between the lines of 
the eagerly expected letter from Louis XV. It did not reach 
Vienna till three months after Maria Theresa's accession. 
She was therein addressed by the title to which she laid 
claim; but albeit her need of help was becoming urgent, 
there was no reference to the solemn guarantee given by 
the French Government to the late Emperor. Notwith- 
standing this disappointment, Bartenstein persuaded the 
Conference that, if the aforesaid Government did not 
actively support the Queen, it would at least exert a re- 
straining influence over her enemies. 

To impose upon Maria Theresa at this period of her 
history was extremely easy. Experience alone could open 
her eyes to the depraved condition of the international 
morality of her times. Even when experience had given 
her considerable skill in manipulating the political forces 
of Europe, she adhered, with far more consistency than is 
generally supposed, to the conviction of her girlhood that 
there is not one standard of honour for individuals and 
another for nations. If it was a disgraceful thing for a 
man to go back on his word, it was, she maintained, equally 
so for a government to repudiate its engagements. 

Accustomed to look upon Austria as the motive power 
of the German Empire, it was naturally difficult either for 
the Queen or her Ministers to grasp the fact that the policy 
of France and of Europe generally was being determined 
by the action of Prussia. King Frederick's proposal to 
ally himself with Austria was regarded at Vienna rather as 
an expression of goodwill than a serious overture. 

As formerly stated, this offer was contained in a letter to 
the Grand Duke Francis. The reply was mainly an appeal 

1 Carlyle, Frederick the Great. 



80 MARIA THERESA 

to Frederick in his capacity of Elector of Brandenburg to 
support his friend's candidature at the impending election 
of a new emperor. A friendly message from Maria Theresa 
was enclosed. " The dispatch of a letter from my beloved 
husband to Your Majesty prompts me/' she wrote, " to unite 
with him in his petition. Your accordance of the very 
great favour which we look for will pledge me as well as 
my consort to a lasting sense of indebtedness. Will it 
therefore please Your Majesty to receive the assurance that 
I will hold myself ready on every available opportunity to 
make what return I can for complaisantness in this matter." 

The writer little imagined that her correspondent was 
verging on a decision to compete for the Imperial throne 
himself. Still, he was not unwilling to forego ambition in 
this direction if more substantial advantages could be se- 
cured in exchange. The avowal of Maria Theresa's fervent 
desire that the highest of all titles should be conferred upon 
her husband suggested to Frederick a likely way of striking 
a bargain with her. 

That His Majesty of Prussia had some warlike enterprise 
in view had become evident before the Queen of Hungary 
preferred her request for his vote. Her hint at a possible 
quid pro quo may indicate her belief in the report that her 
neighbour was preparing to take forcible possession of 
Jiilich and Berg, and her willingness that Austria should 
cease interposing obstacles to the Prussian claim to these 
Westphalian duchies. She had not her father's reasons 
for favouring the rival pretensions of the Elector Palatine. 
Like the ecclesiastical Electors of Cologne and Treves, he 
had taken his stand on the side of the Elector of Bavaria. 

In diplomatic circles there had been much wagging of 
heads and tongues when the new King of Prussia made his 
appearance on the European stage (May 31st, 1740). He 
was twenty- eight years old, but hitherto, save for one tragic 
episode, his life had been completely overshadowed by his 
father's dominant personality. Hence the most discerning 
of statesmen could not forecast the part he was likely to 
play. Sporadic manifestations of energy and determina- 
tion were not lacking during the first weeks of his reign. 
But, on the whole, he seemed more intent on watching the 
movements of other actors than in coming forward himself. 



THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA 81 

England and Spain were at loggerheads, ostensibly over the 
" Jenkins' Ear " incident. France might join in the fray 
at any moment. The Emperor was crippled by the un- 
lucky Turkish War. There was promise of keen competi- 
tion for the alliance of Prussia. There was corresponding 
anxiety to fathom the designs of Prussia's King. Anxiety 
increased to fever-heat when, the Emperor having dis- 
appeared from the scene, Frederick's military preparations 
became more and more extensive. Officers on furlough 
were recalled, regiments ordered to be in readiness to 
march. Presently it was rumoured that the destination of 
the troops was not the Rhine but Silesia. 

With Frederick's protestations fresh in their minds, Maria 
Theresa and her Ministers were chary of accepting the 
alarmist statements of the Austrian Ambassador at Berlin. 
But as a precaution Marquis Botta, an Italian diplomatist in 
Her Majesty's service, was dispatched to the Prussian capital 
in order to find out with what purpose the King had assumed 
so menacing an attitude and, if possible, to come to an 
understanding with him on a basis of mutual good faith 
and helpfulness between Austria and Prussia. 

Journeying to Berlin, Botta found the highways wellnigh 
blocked with troops marching in the direction of Silesia. 
The King tried to put him off with assurances that his main 
object was to guard a vulnerable portion of the Queen of 
Hungary's dominions. Botta, however, advised the Austrian 
Government to put no trust in Frederick's asseverations, for 
within a fortnight his army would be across the frontier. 

The Prussian Ambassador at Vienna, no longer sworn to 
secrecy, gave an equally disquieting version of Frederick's 
designs. His master was, he alleged, equally convinced of 
the inevitability of war and of the likelihood that Prussia's 
just claims would be ignored if her King did not steal a 
march on the enemies of Austria by occupying Silesia. The 
irritating assertion that Frederick's contemplated step was 
all in the interest of the Queen was repeated. 

It was a rude awakening from the dream of peace and 
neutrality in which Maria Theresa and her counsellors had 
indulged for the space of six weeks. Orders were issued for 
putting the threatened province 'in a state of defence, orders 
which it would be very difficult to carry out, since winter 
6 



82 MARIA THERESA 

had made the mountain-roads between Bohemia and Silesia 
almost impassable. Urgent protests were addressed to 
Frederick. His former friend, Francis of Lorraine, besought 
him to withhold his help until the reputed enemies of Austria 
had declared themselves. If such existed, the proposed 
occupation of Silesia would inevitably precipitate their 
attack. Much else was written to the same effect. 

Frederick, fully persuaded in his own mind, was not to 
be moved by any remonstrance. On December 8th, his 
Lord Marshal, Count Gotter, was sent off to Vienna to lay 
before the Queen the definite and final proposals of the im- 
portunate prince who had constituted himself her guardian. 
Briefly stated, they were an offer of the Imperial crown for 
Francis and of the military and financial strength of Prussia 
against the opponents of Maria Theresa, in return for which 
the cession of a considerable portion of Silesia was de- 
manded. Rejection of these terms would be tantamount to 
a declaration of war. 

Having obtained an audience of the Grand Duke of 
Tuscany, Gotter proceeded to explain his errand. The 
Duke replied that the Queen had not the power to grant 
away a morsel of that succession which was so strongly 
and indivisibly entailed. " For my part," he added, " not 
for the Imperial crown, not even for the whole world, will 
I sacrifice one right or one inch of the Queen's lawful 
possessions." 1 On ascertaining that the Prussian troops 
were doubtless already in Silesia, Maria Theresa refused to 
receive Gotter or to treat with the King unless he would with- 
draw his forces from her territory. Negotiations were not 
immediately broken off, but they were obviously foredoomed 
to failure. Of the former King of Prussia it was said that, 
while he often put his finger on the trigger of his gun he 
seldom fired it. With Frederick, on the contrary, threat 
and performance were simultaneous. Before Gotter had 
time to discharge his mission, the King had left Berlin and 
was travelling southward in the wake of his army. " Sire, 
you are going to ruin the House of Austria, and plunge 
yourself into destruction," said Botta, as his last interview 
with Frederick drew to a close. The latter would not 

1 Robinson to Lord Harrington, December 2ist, 1740. 



THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA 83 

consent even to delay the execution of the project. The 
Rubicon, he, said, was already crossed. To the French 
Ambassador the departing King remarked, " I believe I am 
going to play your game. If the aces fall to me, we will 
share the profits." Thus lightly did he commit himself to 
an enterprise, " which proved unexpectedly momentous, and 
shaped the whole remainder of his days for him." It 
changed the tenor of another life quite as completely — that 
of the young Queen whom he had ruthlessly forced into a 
position of danger. On December 16th, 1740, he passed 
the boundary line between her country and his own, a very 
portent of strife with the long-drawn-out war of the Austrian 
Succession trailing behind him. 

By dint of repeating over and over again that his claim 
to the Silesian principalities of Jagerndorf, Liegnitz, Brieg, 
and Wohlau was incontestable, Frederick induced not a few 
of his contemporaries to believe in it. It would have been 
a difficult claim to uphold in a court of law. As a pretext 
for war it served the King's purpose admirably, especially 
when bolstered up by fictions about guarding the rest of the 
province for the benefit of the rightful owner. Frederick's 
private view of the subject may be gathered from his His- 
toire de mon Temps. When he summarizes the motives that 
prompted his coup de main, he makes little account of the 
necessity for maintaining Prussian rights. Looking back, he 
sees on the one hand a young king with ample military and 
financial resources, with ambition urging him to make a 
name for himself, and with resentment at the cavalier fashion 
in which his father had been treated by the Emperor, im- 
pelling him to seize every opportunity of extending his 
kingdom and raising it to the rank of a first-class Power. 
On the other hand there was, he says, a young, inexperienced 
Queen with a disputed title, her army little more than a 
figment, her revenue uncertain. Consequently she was not 
a formidable enemy to attack. She had a narrow strip of 
boundary in common with himself ; for the northern part of 
Silesia formed a sort of triangular wedge, separating the 
Saxon and Polish dominions of Augustus III, and having 
its apex in Brandenburg. The possession, not only of this 
wedge, but of the province as a whole, would mean a vast 
increase of wealth and safety for the kingdom of Prussia. 



84 MARIA THERESA 

It might conceivably be made a stepping-stone to the 
realization of another darling project of the Hohenzollern 
rulers, namely, the annexation of that portion of Poland 
which separated the two component parts of their kingdom — 
the Electorate of Brandenburg, and the Duchy of East 
Prussia. With the possibility of achieving great things 
spurring him on, Frederick was ready to take tremendous 
risks. For he had no allies, and a single lost battle might 
prove decisive. There was, indeed, a remote chance that 
he might gain his object without actual warfare — not how- 
ever while he negotiated from Berlin. Hence his decision 
to seize the coveted province first, and treat with Maria 
Theresa afterwards. 

A contemporary political cartoon represents the two rulers 
playing chess. The Queen would have been more than 
human if she had not resented the unfair play which enabled 
her opponent to cry " check " at the very beginning of the 
game. Her own impulse was flatly to refuse his proposals 
and then to put forth every effort to checkmate him. But 
Sinzendorf, her Foreign Minister, still shrank from a 
declaration of war. " I appealed to him," says Robinson, 
" what the impartial world would think of the proceedings 
of this Court, in not knowing, in its present circumstances 
at home, and more dangerous circumstances abroad, how 
to find one expedient or another." There was no definite 
breaking off with the King of Prussia till the end of January, 
1741. Meanwhile, he was carrying all before him. His 
Protestantism commended him to a largely Protestant popu- 
lation. Ability to vouch for his friendly intentions by the 
fact that he was in constant communication with the Queen 
was another asset in his favour. 

In Austria military preparations were certainly pushed 
on, but the troops were not sent forward with anything like 
the necessary rapidity. The nomination of the commander 
did more credit to the heart than the head of Francis of 
Lorraine. With the view of granting his former instructor an 
opportunity to recover the prestige lost in the Turkish War 
the appointment was given to Neipperg. It would have 
been infinitely better to have extended the responsibility of 
Browne, an able officer of Irish extraction, already in com- 
mand in Silesia. Before the campaign began, Neipperg's 



THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA 85 

leisurely movements were a cause of irritation to the sove- 
reign lady at Vienna. In one of her letters she says, " I 
can see quite well that with us everything is done far too 
slowly. This will be our ruin in the long run. There is 
no haste to accomplish even the things of paramount im- 
portance." 

To the three months' Queen there was but one ray of 
light in the opening weeks of 1741, namely, the acknow- 
ledgment of her title by the French Government. In all 
other directions the storm-clouds were gathering. A pro- 
tracted war with Prussia Was inevitable. Saxony was raising 
suspicious objections to the right of the Grand Duke of 
Tuscany to exercise the electoral vote of Bohemia. There 
was a further protest against his position as co -Regent. 
The Elector of Bavaria was likely to prove a formidable 
rival for the Imperial crown. " The Termagant of Spain " 
was once more on the warpath, and impatient to make good 
her revived claim to an Italian throne for her second son, 
Don Philip. Domestic grief was added to the (political 
anxieties of Maria Theresa. On January 25th Robinson 
reports that " the younger of the two little Archduchesses 
was taken ill about two of the clock this morning and died 
at noon, much in the same manner and with the sanie 
symptoms as the Queen's eldest daughter, who died in June 
last. This affliction, with so many others, comes very hard 
upon the Queen, who is near her time of lying-in." 

The events of the ensuing weeks were not calculated to 
strengthen her expectation that other monarchs would resent 
the King of Prussia's cynical disregard for international 
rights and rally to her defence. A growing conviction that 
the only support on which dependence might be placed was 
that of her own subjects, brought with it an almost over- 
whelming dread lest the birth of another daughter should 
alienate them from her cause. Looking back on those days 
of agonized suspense, she tells how courage and calmness 
were attained by fervent prayer. Inspired by the words 
of her patron saint, Theresa, she ofttimes invoked the medi- 
ation of Saint Joseph. " I cannot remember," writes the 
great reformer of convents, " that I ever desired anything 
by his means which he hath failed to obtain for me; and it 
is like to amaze me when I consider the great favours 



86 MARIA THERESA 

which Almighty God hath done me by means of this blessed 
saint, and the dangers, both of soul and body, out of which 
he hath delivered me." 

To Theresa the Queen there was also given deliverance 
from danger. On March 13th, 1741, past and present 
troubles were forgotten in the mother's exultation over her 
first-born son, in the monarch's profound relief in the advent 
of the long- desired male heir of the House of Habsburg. 
The mere sight of him was reassuring — a veritable young 
Hercules, weighing 16 lb. 2 oz., as was duly noted in the 
periodicals of the day. " Her Majesty's subjects had now 
a precious pledge and hope of their future security." In 
the small hours of the bleak March morning they crowded 
round the Hofburg, and their noisy demonstrations of plea- 
sure were as music in the ears of the Queen. ' It was, she 
often said, the second happiest day of her life. 

It was the day, not only of the infant's birth, but of his 
christening. In the prenatal discussion of names Maria 
Theresa had confirmed the general anticipation that, if the 
new-comer were a prince, he should be called after the 
grandfather who had missed the fulfilment ,of his most 
ardent desire by a few short months. It was the only 
decision that would have found favour with Empress Eliza- 
beth. But as the time for the ceremony drew near, the 
Queen set herself to gain her mother's approval of a change 
in the child's chief, name. She wished to make acknowledg- 
ment of her thankfulness for the granting of her petition. 
If she had another son, she promised that he should be 
called Charles, but the first-born was to bear the name of 
the saint whom she had so often invoked in her distress. 

Joseph, accordingly, was the appellation bestowed on the 
little Archduke in the course of a stately service, in which 
the Papal Nuncio was assisted by no fewer than jsixteen 
bishops. The sponsors were Pope Benedict XIV, the Em- 
press Elizabeth, and the kinsman who was King of Poland. 
The infant was no sooner baptized than his father created 
him a Knight of the Golden Fleece. Public rejoicings 
continued for a whole week. The pious sentiment which 
had prompted the change of name appealed to one section 
of the community. Another approved of reviving the re- 
membrance of the popular reign of Joseph I. Ambas- 



THE ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA 87 

sadors extraordinary announced the good tidings to every 
European Court, save that of Prussia. Count Wenzel Kau- 
nitz, the envoy to the Italian States, was destined to become 
known as the greatest politician of the reign of Maria 
lheresa. He was equally prominent in the reign of her 
eldest son, when the latter succeeded to the throne as 
Joseph II. 



CHAPTER VIII 

DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY AT MOLLWITZ— 
CORONATION OF MARIA THERESA AT PRESS- 
BURG 

MARIA THERESA'S decision to invite Augustus of 
Poland and Saxony to stand sponsor for her son, 
if a son should be born, .was eminently prudent. 
His sphere of influence had been extended by the marriage 
of his daughter to the King of the Two Sicilies. Until a 
new emperor should be elected he held the office of Imperial 
Vicar. In this capacity also the Queen of Hungary eagerly 
desired his friendship. Like Frederick of Prussia, Augustus 
had taken steps to ascertain if he could safely aspire to 
the purple himself. With far more reluctance than Frederick 
he abandoned the idea when it became evident that the 
choice of the other Electors would lie between Francis of 
Lorraine and Charles Albert of Bavaria. 

From the year I 7 1 4 onwards, a series of secret treaties 
had pledged the King of France to support the candidature 
of the Elector of Bavaria when the time came to choose a 
successor to Charles VI. Certain of the agreements had 
furthermore provided that France should take the part of 
Charles Albert if he decided to claim the right of sover- 
eignty in the Habsburg countries. On the strength of 
these promises the Elector refused to identify himself with 
the other German princes on whose behalf the Imperial 
Diet accepted the Pragmatic Sanction in 1732. He was 
naturally taken aback when, later on, the famous Act of 
Succession was guaranteed by France. But Fleury was 
ready with assurances that his King would not uphold Maria 
Theresa if another claimant proved to have a better title to 
her father's dominions. Interpreting in his own favour 
this oracular utterance, the Elector did not hesitate to come 



DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY 89 

forward as the rival not only of Francis of Lorraine, but of 
the daughter of Charles VI. 

When the young Princess showed that she considered her 
own right indisputable, Charles Albert made anxious in- 
quiry as to the intentions of the French Government. Fleury 
gave him to understand that there was no reason why he 
should not compete for Imperial honours, but concessions 
to Bavaria would have ended there had the Cardinal been 
free to follow his own judgment. Obviously the way to 
avert a European war was to support the title of the Queen 
of Hungary. It had, however, become needful that Fleury 
should take into account the policy of Belleisle, divergent as 
it was from his own. Eventually he ceased to oppose it. 
Yet so long as it was to the interest of France to avoid a 
breach with Austria, the Cardinal continued to temporize 
with the Courts of Vienna and Munich. 

The main plank in Belleisle 's scheme for giving France 
the control of European politics was the dismemberment 
of Austria. His ultimate object was to bring about such a 
transference of Habsburg provinces to Prussia, Bavaria, and 
Saxony as would leave Maria Theresa with little more than 
Hungary for her portion. Thus the Empire would no 
longer be at the beck of one preponderating Power, for 
Germany would comprise four kingdoms of nearly equal 
strength. Each would naturally be jealous of the others, 
and France might dictate to them all. She would also be 
free to consolidate her own power by annexing Luxemburg 
and the Netherlands. Well might Frederick of Prussia 
assert that, by invading Silesia, he was playing the game 
of the French King. 

The first indication that Louis XV had begun to play 
for his own hand was the elevation of Belleisle to the rank 
of Marshal of France, and his appointment as Ambassador- 
Extraordinary to the German Courts. His primary object 
was to secure the rejection of the husband of Maria Theresa 
when the members of the Electoral College should assemble 
at Frankfort to choose a new emperor. Frederick II had 
begun to put out feelers for some recognition of his claims 
in Silesia on the part of the French Government. But the 
cautious Fleury insisted on awaiting further developments. 
It would, he argued, be time enough to countenance the 



go MARIA THERESA 

Prussian King when he had shown himself capable of main- 
taining his hazardous position. 

To Frederick's satisfaction his overtures to the British 
Government were more favourably received. He was more 
drawn to an alliance with the Sea Powers and Austria 
than with France, if only Maria Theresa could be per- 
suaded to satisfy his demands. She, however, refused to 
cede any portion of the disputed province, even after the 
defeat of her army at Mollwitz — the first battle of the 
war (April ioth, 1741). At the first onset the Austrian 
cavalry, habituated to active service, put to flight the right 
wing of the Prussian horse, and so nearly snatched a victory 
that Frederick quitted the field in despair. When he re- 
appeared later on it was to find that the charge of the 
Prussian infantry, under the command of Von Schwerin, 
had proved irresistible, and that the enemy were in full 
retreat. 

Mollwitz had laid a solid foundation for the future prestige 
of the Prussian army, but it did not extricate the King from 
his insecure and unrecognized position. He therefore be- 
spoke the mediation of England, and renewed his offer to 
make peace with Austria if Lower Silesia were definitely 
assigned to him. The British Ambassador at Vienna was 
charged to leave no stone unturned in order to convince the 
Austrian Court of the wisdom of accepting the proffered 
terms. 

Robinson acted promptly on his instructions, though he 
cannot be said to have made much impression. His in- 
fluence would have been greater if he had persistently 
advocated the same course of action. That, however, was 
impossible for a man who was under the necessity of serv- 
ing two masters. The British Government naturally put 
British interests first. But its accredited agent had also 
to consider the wishes of George II, who was mainly con- 
cerned for the welfare of Hanover. 

It was an unkind fate that, at a period of international 
crisis, compelled a mediocre prince to double the parts of 
British Sovereign and German Elector. To the heroine of 
the European stage, who played her single part with all 
her heart and soul, it was exasperating beyond measure 
not to know for certain in what guise George II would 



EUROPE 




DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY 91 

appear. At one time he posed as the chivalrous redresser 
of her wrongs ; at another he seemed but one more 
messenger of Satan sent to buffet her. 

As Elector of Hanover, George strongly objected to any- 
fresh acquisition of territory by the neighbouring ruler of 
Brandenburg; he therefore assured Maria Theresa that she 
had little to fear from Frederick's irruption into Austria. 
The intruder would soon be dislodged by their united efforts. 
This was advice after the Queen's own heart. She was 
further encouraged by hearing of the grant of troops and 
money in response to the King's appeal to Parliament on 
her behalf. Great was her indignation when George II 
suddenly abandoned the part of champion, and Robinson, 
as the mouthpiece of both masters, declared that compliance 
with the Prussian demand was inevitable. 

The change was due to another astute move on the part 
of Frederick. In May, 1 74 1, George II proceeded to 
Hanover to put himself at the head of the auxiliaries assem- 
bled in the Electorate. So threatening did his attitude be- 
come that Prussian reinforcements destined for Silesia were 
diverted to join the forces which Frederick had placed 
near Magdeburg, under Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, in order 
to hold Hanover and Saxony in check. The hint at a 
possible invasion of his beloved Hanover was not thrown 
away on George II. Prudence suggested that it might be 
well to refrain from further opposition when his nephew 
laid claim to a slice of Habsburg territory. And though 
he continued to organize reinforcements for the Austrian 
army, he became less eager to exceed the stipulated number 
of auxiliaries, and temporarily abandoned the idea of taking 
the field himself. 

The inexperienced Queen of Hungary failed to grasp the 
fact that an entirely new situation had been created by her 
defeat. So far the most encouraging incident of the new 
reign was the birth of Archduke Joseph. In the general 
satisfaction called forth by that event, the lost battle, which 
would otherwise have been a sore grievance to Her Majesty's 
subjects, was relegated to the domain of minor calamities. 
When Maria Theresa reappeared in public to attend the 
Thanksgiving Service for the safety of herself and her infant, 
" there was no proof of duty and attachment omitted by 



92 MARIA THERESA 

the people. Some of the nobility were at the expense of 
three, four, or even six thousand florins in illuminations. 
What was most remarkable was that in such crowded streets, 
where such numbers of Turks and Prussian deserters were 
straggling and gazing with the common people, the Queen, 
accompanied with the two Archduchesses 1 went in an open 
landau, with two horses and only two servants, through 
the whole town at night. The Grand Duke was on horse- 
back with another party of courtiers, and Prince Charles 
on foot." 2 

This spontaneous demonstration of loyalty and the ap- 
preciative response of the Sovereign ushers in a new epoch 
of Habsburg history. Not for generations had there been 
anything of the nature of personal and intimate relation- 
ship between the reigning Caesar and his subjects. In Vienna 
Charles VI was particularly careful to entrench himself 
behind his rampart of ceremonious observance. Apart from 
the Court, the city had no life of its own. Its inhabitants 
therefore were all eyes and ears for the doings and sayings 
of the Imperial household. Maria Theresa's little digres- 
sions from conventional routine, and frankly expressed sym- 
pathy with the suffering that came under her observation, 
had given her, from childhood onwards, a place of her own 
in the estimation of the citizens. Their affections had for 
a while been alienated by the mischief-making agents of the 
Elector of Bavaria, but the birth of an heir sufficed to re- 
instate his mother in popular favour. 

A brighter prospect opened before her when, not only 
from among the residents of Vienna, but from divers parts 
of her scattered domains, men began to come forward with 
offers of money or personal service in support of her cause. 
Particularly gratifying to her were the evidences of Hun- 
garian loyalty. The majority of her counsellors advocated 
caution in dealing with the Magyars. They reminded the 
Queen that Hungarians who had rebelled against Joseph I 
were still exiles in Turkey. Of a surety they would seek to 
prejudice their fellow-countrymen against the new Govern- 
ment. They might even incite the Turks to begin a fresh 
war with Austria. Fortunately her trust in Palffy and his 

1 Her daughter and sister. 2 Robinson to Lord Harrington. 



DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY 93 

powerful following combined with other reasons to prevent 
the Queen from being misled as to the real source of her 
strength. 

Her army was in urgent need of reinforcement, and the 
organization of regular troops proceeded slowly. Prominent 
Hungarians proposed to obtain the royal sanction for the 
enlistment of companies of free-lances, who could be placed 
at the immediate disposal of Neipperg. The Austrian 
authorities looked askance at the suggestion of armed 
Hungarian irregulars. Nevertheless the offer was accepted. 
Amongst the leaders of the free companies, who were pre- 
sently on their way to Silesia, iwas Baron Francis von Trenck, 
a kinsman of Frederick von Trenck, the far-famed prisoner 
of King Frederick of Prussia. For dare-devil courage and 
murderous ferocity no swashbucklers of romance could vie 
with Francis Trenck and his regiment of pandours. They 
were inspected by Maria Theresa as they passed through 
Vienna. Doubtless she took credit to herself for enlisting 
the pugnacious contingent. 

Incalculable advantage was obtained by a well-timed 
treaty with the Porte. Enemies of the Habsburg heiress 
had pictured her involved in continuous struggles with 
Turkey and Hungary, and consequently unable to carry on 
war with other countries. Their hopes in this direction 
seemed likely to be frustrated. On May 1 8th, 174.1, the 
Hungarian Diet obeyed the Queen's summons to meet at 
Pressburg. Its first business was to decide the order of 
ceremony to be observed on Her Majesty's arrival in the 
city, and on her ensuing coronation. Deputies from the four 
estates of the realm were charged with Hungary's formal 
invitation to Maria Theresa to come and receive the crown 
of St. Stephen. Her request that her consort should be 
appointed co -Regent in Hungary as well as in Austria was 
debated, but it was deemed expedient to leave the matter 
in abeyance until after the coronation. Thus there would 
be no question that only as the husband of the Queen could 
Francis claim to be Regent. 

In Vienna the delegates were received with all the 
graciousness befitting their message. Their spokesman ad- 
dressed the Queen in the official Latin, and she replied 
fluently in the same speech. The coronation was fixed for 



94 MARIA THERESA 

June 25th. Pending her arrival, they drew up a "postu- 
late," or list of grievances for which redress was sought. 
Disapproving of certain demands, Maria Theresa had a 
counter list of proposals prepared for submission to the Diet. 

Meanwhile Belleisle, after journeying with much pomp 
and circumstance from one electoral Court to another, had 
appeared at the head-quarters of the King of Prussia at 
Strehlen, and found this townlet such an excellent centre 
for his negotiations that he was in no hurry to depart. 
Frederick's victory had furnished the advocate of Bourbon 
supremacy with an unrivalled opportunity for the prosecu- 
tion of his elaborate design. Within a few weeks it was well 
on the way to execution. On May 28th, 1 741, the agreement 
known as the Treaty of Nymphenburg pledged France and 
Spain to support the Elector of Bavaria's candidature for the 
vacant Imperial throne. From both countries he likewise 
received the promise of a grant of money, while France 
undertook to send an army to co-operate with the Bavarians 
in the forthcoming struggle with Austria for the posses- 
sion of Bohemia. In return for this friendly interposition 
the Elector bound himself not to use his Imperial power 
to deprive France of territories she might see fit to occupy 
within the Empire, or Spain of her projected annexations 
in Italy. 

While effecting the co-operation of three rulers, all of 
whom had designs on Habsburg possessions, Belleisle did 
not neglect other possibilities. His first overtures to the 
King of Prussia met with scant encouragement, for Mollwitz 
had made Frederick more independent. He did not refuse 
to vote for Charles Albert of Bavaria, neither was he averse 
from curtailing the power of Austria in Germany, but he 
did not desire that the result should be a corresponding 
increase in the power of France. His views found ex- 
pression in the communications addressed by him to George 
II; at the same time he asserted that he would be forced 
to ally himself with France if Maria Theresa persisted in 
refusing his terms. 

Fearful lest Hanover should be attacked by the combined 
forces of France and Prussia, George II hastened to emulate 
the French and Spanish kings by dispatching a special 
envoy to the Prussian camp. 



DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY 95 

The diplomatist sent to Silesia to counterbalance the 
influence of Belleisle was John Carmichael, Lord Hyndford. 
A shrewd, far-sighted Scotsman, upright in character, at- 
tractive in personality, with a thorough-going British an- 
tipathy to France and her rulers, Hyndford was not ill- 
equipped for the office of mediator between Austria and 
Prussia. 

Frederick had naturally resented George IPs recent appeal 
to Parliament for funds to enable Maria Theresa to cope 
with the invader of Silesia; but, according to Hyndford, 
his master's apparent opposition to Prussia was merely veiled 
hostility to France. What the King of England really 
desired was a speedy end of the struggle between his 
nephew and the Queen of Hungary. Then both would be 
available for a coalition against France. 

The mere fact that both George II and Louis XV deemed 
it worth while to send extraordinary envoys to him con- 
vinced Frederick that he was nearer his goal than he had 
imagined. He readily agreed to the mediation which Hynd- 
ford proposed to undertake in conjunction with the British 
Ambassador at Vienna. At the same time he determined not 
to abate his demand for the whole of Lower Silesia, in- 
cluding Breslau, the capital of the province. Robinson 
duly renewed his attempts to bring about a reconsideration 
of Maria Theresa's decision to concede nothing to the 
disturber of her peace. From the stage of refusing point- 
blank to listen to the hated proposal, she passed to the 
stage of making a few grudging concessions. Frederick 
characterized her offer as " impertinent," and on June 4th 
agreed to sign a convention with France. The long-suffering 
Robinson was directed to make still more urgent repre- 
sentations to the Queen of Hungary, and ascertain if by 
any means she might be brought to the point of yielding 
before the ratification of the dreaded compact. When 
these instructions reached Sir Thomas he had just returned 
from Pressburg. He was out of favour with the Court 
and had received no invitation to the ceremonies in the 
Hungarian capital. But he had gone all the same, deter- 
mined to see as much as possible. 

Six days before the coronation all Vienna flocked to the 
banks of the Danube to witness the departure of the Queen 



96 MARIA THERESA 

with her husband, daughter, sister, and a numerous retinue. 
The most attractive route from Vienna to Hungary is by way 
of the river. In the eighteenth 1 century it was also the 
most frequented one. Travellers were accommodated in 
" little vessels that might properly be called wooden houses, 
having in them almost all the conveniences of a palace — 
stoves in the chambers, kitchens, etcetera. They were rowed 
by twelve men, or more, with an incredible swiftness, so that 
in the same day you had the pleasure of a vast variety of 
prospects." 1 

The boats on which Maria Theresa and her suite em- 
barked were propelled by more than a dozen rowers. They 
were decorated with a profusion of flags showing the Hun- 
garian arms and the Hungarian colours — red, green, and 
white. Consideration for Hungarian sentiment was also 
apparent in the furnishing of the boats and the garb of the 
crews. In five hours the " incredibly swift " oarsmen had 
brought the Queen to Petronell, four-and-twenty miles from 
Vienna. Here she spent the night at a castle belonging to 
Count Traun, who was destined to play an important part 
in the military history of her reign. Next morning the 
voyage was resumed. Near the Hungarian frontier Maria 
Theresa and the majority of her companions went on shore 
and continued the journey in carriages. 

On the further side of the boundary a magnificent tent 
had been erected for the reception of the Queen. Gorgeously 
attired Magyar noblemen and holders of State offices were 
present on horseback. Bishops and other ecclesiastics had 
come in their coaches. Esterhazy, the Primate of Hungary, 
welcomed Her Majesty in a Latin oration. To this she 
had no difficulty in responding. Then the procession was 
marshalled, and wended its way along the right bank of 
the Danube, amidst cheering spectators who had preferred 
the spaciousness of the river-side to the crowded city streets. 
Lit up by the westering sun, Pozsony (or Pressburg), on 
the opposite bank was looking its fairest as the cavalcade 
turned to cross the bridge. Situated on a spur of the 
Little Carpathians the streets wind upward to the castle, 
standing four-square on its wind-swept plateau. An out- 

1 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 



DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY 97 

break of fire in 1 8 1 1 has left little but outer walls to testify 
to the massive grandeur of the royal residence of former 
days. On the evening of June 20th, 17 41, the cannon 
thundered from the ramparts, and banners streamed from the 
towers at the four corners of the fortress-like structure to 
which Maria Theresa was drawing near. She was no 
stranger to Hungary, but this, her first appearance as ruler 
of the country, was a veritable triumph. It was meet that 
the state carriage provided for her use should recall the 
chariot of a victorious Roman general. Francis of Lorraine 
was seated beside his consort, but former goings and com- 
ings had made him so familiar to the Pressburgers that 
his reappearance excited little comment. All eyes were 
fastened on the youthful figure of the Queen. Her mourn- 
ing had been temporarily laid aside. Her white robe, with 
its blue and gold embroideries, was fashioned in the Hun- 
garian style. No sphinx-like royalty this, but a woman of 
vivid personality and singular grace and charm who re- 
sponded with unfeigned satisfaction to the curious oft- 
repeated greeting, "Long live our Lady the King!" 

The following day members of both Chambers of the 
Diet were bidden to the Castle and received by the Sover- 
eign. The Hungarian Chancellor, Count Ludwig Batthyany, 
addressed them in their own tongue. Then, in her fluent 
Latin, the Queen outlined the proposals which had been 
agreed upon in Vienna. Amongst other things the office 
of Palatine was to be filled immediately. Measures were to 
be taken to restore prosperity in those parts of the kingdom 
which had suffered most in recent wars and outbreaks of 
pestilence. The need of a larger army was urgent. It 
was desired that Hungary, should expedite its formation 
by a general levy of contributions. The project of the 
Diet to incorporate with the coronation oath the concessions 
to be obtained from Her Majesty met with no favour. 
'Maria Theresa declared that she would take the oath in 
the form in which it had been administered to her pre- 
decessors. 

After renewed expressions of loyalty the delegates with- 
drew, but the Queen was soon given to understand that 
members of the Diet would prefer her assent to their own 
protocol. The nobles claimed their ancient privilege of 
7 



98 MARIA THERESA 

exemption from taxation. The more patriotic members 
desired self-government for Hungary in so far as the in- 
ternal affairs of the country were concerned, and equality 
with Austria in matters affecting the dual monarchy. Hun- 
garians were to be nominated to vacant benefices and offices 
of State. Within twelve months of the death of a Palatine 
his successor was to be appointed. 

Round these points discussion raged at the assemblies of 
the Diet. On one subject only were the members in agree- 
ment with the Queen. They also desired the immediate 
election of a new Palatine. To Maria Theresa's relief the 
choice fell on "Father Palffy. " Though suffering from 
gout and hardly able to stand upright, he was assisted into 
the Queen's audience-chamber. In a few broken sentences 
he expressed his gratitude to her and to the representatives 
of the Diet for the honour conferred on him. " Brief, in- 
deed," be said, " must be the span during which Providence 
might see fit to spare him. He could only aver that he 
would be ready as heretofore to devote his life and blood 
for King and Fatherland." The words made a deep im- 
pression on those present ; so also did the sight of the young 
monarch with tears in her eyes, as the infirm old Viceroy 
kissed her hand. His former post of Judex Curiae was 
bestowed on Count Joseph Esterhazy, a scion of the famous 
Hungarian family to which the Primate also belonged. 

With Palffy as mediator between the Crown and the 
Diet, Maria Theresa hoped for the manifestation of a more 
conciliatory spirit amongst the representatives of the king- 
dom. To bring about some measure of agreement with her 
wishes, without alienating his fellow-countrymen, whose 
aspirations he shared, was no easy task. The Queen was 
reluctant to create inconvenient precedents by granting even 
the demands which seemed most reasonable. She strongly 
objected to a pledge that the office of Palatine should not 
be suffered to fall into abeyance. A majority of the mem- 
bers of the Diet still demurred when there was any attempt 
to reach a decision with regard to the co-regency. The 
Queen therefore declined to take a step which would have 
put it out of her power to restore Francis to the position 
of Governor, if higher rank should not be conferred on him 
during Palffy's lifetime. A compromise was the only pos- 



DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY 99 

sible result of the conflict of purposes. Late in the evening 
preceding her coronation, Maria Theresa signed her own 
proposals with some changes and modifications. But she 
was also constrained to sign another document whereby, the 
Diet reserved the right to further consideration of the de- 
bated points. Maria Theresa had successfully evaded their 
association with her coronation oath. But she was forced 
to renounce her cherished desire of a prominent position 
for her husband in the morrow's pageant. Francis was 
with some difficulty restrained from returning to Vienna. In 
the end he consented to play the uncongenial part of mere 
spectator during the earlier part of the day. At the ban- 
quet which followed the ceremonial proceedings, he could 
not be debarred from the place of honour beside the Queen. 
It was a bitter experience for the new monarch to realize 
that there were limits to her powers of fascination and 
persuasion, and that the confidence which she fully intended 
to justify was withheld from her. But trust in the goodwill 
of the Habsburgs had been so often abused that there was 
a strong desire for a more palpable safeguard of national 
interests. 

Having obtained certain guarantees for the future, the 
Hungarians showed themselves equally determined that 
nothing should be wanting to the magnificence of the great 
function of June 25th. An opportune fillip to the Queen's 
popularity was given by the Elector of Bavaria's protest 
against her coronation. The indignant Magyars reminded 
Charles Albert that their Government did not cease to be 
an elective monarchy until their acceptance of the Prag- 
matic Sanction. If that instrument had been set aside it 
would, they asserted, have become an elective monarchy 
again, with Maria Theresa as the chosen King. 

The Elector's attempt to shake the loyalty of the Hun- 
garians was but a prelude to more active hostility on his 
part. To begin with, however, it intensified the enthusiasm 
with which Maria Theresa was greeted when she set out 
for the ancient Gothic cathedral of St. Martin. There could 
be no mistake as to its being the coronation church. The 
pyramid surmounting its tower terminated in a gilded repre- 
sentation of the crown of St. Stephen. 

Throughout the night would-be spectators had been mak- 



m 



ioo MARIA THERESA 



ing their way. to Pressburg from Vienna and from all the 
surrounding region. At earliest dawn citizens and strangers 
might have been seen hurrying to every point of vantage. 
Never had the streets been so densely crowded. 

The first excitement was caused by the appearance of 
the state carriages in which the Palatine, the officiating 
ecclesiastics, and other personages of note drove to the 
cathedral to receive the Queen on her arrival. Moving in 
the opposite direction came a procession of noblemen, mem- 
bers of the Diet, and other dignitaries. They were on their 
way to the Castle to form the guard of honour in the royal 
procession. Hungarian magnates might haggle about con- 
tributing to the taxation of the country; but there was no 
stinting of expense in the adornment of their persons, or in 
the caparisoning of their horses. They had made up their 
minds not to be outshone by the numerously represented 
Austrian nobility; no, not even by the Knights of the 
Golden Fleece. 

The crowds, who had feasted their eyes on these pic- 
turesquely costumed cavaliers, gazed with unabated interest 
at the solitary occupant of the royal chariot. Pale at her 
first setting out, before she reached the cathedral the colour 
had come back to Maria Theresa's face, while the brightness 
of her eyes struck every beholder. Nothing could exceed 
the sumptuousness of her robe of cloth of gold, blazing with 
jewels, though its weight and warmth on a summer's day 
must have been a serious infliction to one who always shrank 
from heat. With her fair complexion and " her long, loose, 
yellow locks, like golden wire," she resembled some heroic 
figure of German legend. 

Within the cathedral the ceremony proceeded in accord- 
ance with age-long ritual. At the close of the Primate of 
Hungary's exhortation to the Sovereign to earn renown as 
the upholder of justice and good government, she knelt, 
and with her hand upon the Gospels swore to maintain " the 
old laws, rights, and liberties of the land." Anointed with 
oil, and clad in the mantle of St. Stephen, she received the 
sword of the canonized King of Hungary, and, drawing it 
from the scabbard made therewith the sign of the cross. 
With the crown on her head, and the orb and sceptre in her 
hands, she took her seat on the throne, and received the 



DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY 101 

homage of the Primate and other dignitaries, lay and 
clerical. At an intimation from the Palatine that the 
religious ceremony was complete, the multitude congre- 
gated outside the cathedral shouted with all their might, 
" Long live our Lady the King." 

Over and over again the salutation was repeated, as Maria 
Theresa, wearing the crown and other insignia of royalty, 
drove to the Franciscan church. Here, with the sword of 
St. Stephen, she created her first batch of knights. Another 
short drive brought her to a raised platform draped in the 
Hungarian colours. Standing on this, in the open air, and 
in the presence of the people, she repeated after the Pri- 
mate the vow to maintain good government, already sworn 
to in the cathedral. 

One more picturesque ceremony had still to be observed. 
A slight elevation by the bank of the Danube bore the 
high-sounding name of the Royal Hill. At its foot a gaily 
decked black horse awaited the Queen. Mounted thereon, 
she galloped to the summit; and once more drawing her 
sword turned its point north and south, east and west. Thus 
she signified her readiness to turn the sword against the 
country's enemies, from whatever quarter they might come. 

It was at this stage that the British Ambassador obtained 
his best view of the day's proceedings. " The Queen," he 
says, " was all charm. She rode gallantly up the Royal 
Mount, and defied the four corners of the world with the 
drawn sabre, in a manner to show that she had no occasion 
for that weapon to conquer all who saw her. The antiquated 
crown received graces from her head, and the old tattered 
robe of St. Stephen became her as well as her own rich 
habit, if diamonds, pearls, and all sorts of precious stones 
can be called clothes." 1 

Amidst vociferous rejoicings the royal procession took 
its uphill road back to the Castle. The happiness of the 
crowned Queen was marred by the absence of her consort 
from the position of eminence in which she had always pic- 
tured him in her anticipation of the day's pageantry. By 
unfrequented back streets he had betaken himself to windows 
and other places, whence he could behold the picturesque 

1 Robinson Papers. 



102 MARIA THERESA 

ceremonial of a Hungarian coronation. At the ensuing 
banquet husband and wife were once more side by side. 
The latter, flushed and weary, was finding the heavy diadem 
an intolerable burden. Her father would have endured any 
amount of discomfort rather than infringe the custom of 
wearing it during the festal meal. Maria Theresa judged 
that it was sufficient to retain it until she had taken her 
seat as president. Then the crown of St. Stephen was 
promptly transferred from her aching head to the table in 
front of her. 

A new day had dawned ere the sound of merry-making 
died away in the crowded city beneath the shadow of the 
Castle. Maria Theresa went to rest with the comforting 
assurance that it had become far more difficult for the 
Elector of Bavaria and other pretenders to justify their 
claim to her inheritance. In addition to the so-called " hat 
of Austria," she had formally received the second of the 
three crowns which appear in many of her portraits. The 
third, the crown of Bohemia, was not to be obtained save 
at the cost of a mighty struggle. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE INVASION OF AUSTRIA BY FRANCE AND 
BAVARIA— MARIA THERESA'S APPEAL TO THE 
HUNGARIAN DIET 



T 



HE coronation over, the British envoy returned to 
Vienna. There, within a day or two, he received 
information of the impending alliance between 
France and Prussia. l Instantly he was on the way back 
to Pressburg. The disquieting news was first of all com- 
municated to Sinzendorf and Starhemberg. " They both fell 
back in their chairs like dead men." Hitherto they had 
refused to credit the prediction that France would even- 
tually be found amongst the enemies of Maria Theresa. 
With that very contingency staring them in the face they 
comprehended how grave was the position of the newly 
crowned Queen. 

The Grand Duke of Tuscany had gone to Vienna. It 
was arranged that Robinson should have an interview with 
him as soon as he returned. In the evening the Ambassador 
betook himself to the Castle. Already it was evident to 
him that the Court of Maria Theresa would become a 
genuine centre of social life. She was, he says, " gradually 
quitting the melancholy etiquette " of the past. Her youth, 
vivacity, and common sense revolted from the dreary seclu- 
sion in which the later Habsburg emperors had spent their 
days. Neither metaphorically nor literally could their 
successor endure to be " cabined, cribbed, confined." In 
all weathers her windows stood open day and night, to the 
no small perplexity of her contemporaries. There was a 
widespread belief that, in spite of her healthy appearance, 

1 See page 95. 
103 



104 MARIA THERESA 

the Queen was "consumed by a raging internal fever." 
If not fever, some other morbid condition must surely 
underlie her eccentric craving for fresh air. 

A simpler explanation of Maria Theresa's indifference 
to cold may be found in the rapid circulation of the blood 
effected by a normal heart of unusual strength. But what- 
ever its origin, there is a peculiar fitness in her association 
with open windows. In her passage through the house of 
life, how often do we seem to see her pausing before this 
or that casement which convention, tradition, or timidity 
had closed and barred, and patiently, devising the means of 
setting it ajar. 

Thus instead of disappearing into an inner sanctum at 
the close of the day, she aimed at making the evening a 
time of relaxation for the whole Court, when music, cards, 
and other diversions might afford some respite from the 
responsibilities of State, or the routine of officialdom. Apart 
from her own personal predilection, the mere fact that her 
consort was happier in this less formal atmosphere would 
have commended it to Maria Theresa. 

She was playing cards when word came that Robinson 
had been admitted to an audience with the Grand Duke. 
" It was near nine of the clock on June 29th," as Sir 
Thomas notes in his report to Lord Harrington. " I had 
hardly begun to acquaint His Highness in a few words 
that all was near lost, Prussia had signed with France, and I 
had taken your Lordship's letter out of my pocket to make 
a full confidence, when the Queen entered. She had left her 
play — had heard I waited for the Duke — had been told the 
treaty was signed — and that I had received a commission." 

"The Grand Duke, with a sigh, said: 'Well, what is 
this treaty?.' By their permission I took a candle in my 
hand and read your Lordship's letter from one end to the 
other. The Duke could hardly believe the treaty had been 
signed so long ago as on the 5th past. He observed the 
bad heart of the King of Prussia, who could hold so 
different a language by himself and afterwards by his minis- 
ters to Lord Hyndford. That now nothing was to be done 
but to perish — perish sword in hand, and with their friends, 
or save themselves even without their friends. . . . The 
Queen let fall a few, though tender, reproaches even in 



THE INVASION OF AUSTRIA BY FRANCE 105 

my presence as to the Duke's having often expressed too 
much hope of the King of Prussia. ... I said the King 
of England conjured her Majesty to do all that was humanly 
possible in Silesia to detach the King of Prussia from this 
fatal confederacy, since France had most probably promised 
nothing less than all Silesia to the King of Prussia for his 
share singly, at least by this alliance he would most cer- 
tainly appropriate the whole to himself. She answered 
that in conscience, as well as for all manner of political 
reasons, she would not consent to part with much in Silesia. 
She might perhaps part with Glogau, if she could be left 
in peace on all sides. That no sooner an enemy was to be 
satisfied than another started up, and then another and 
another must too be contented, and all at her expense. I 
assured her Majesty zi King George's intention to raise, 
immediately upon the gaining of the King of Prussia, such 
a formidable alliance as might disappoint the views of all 
others." The Ambassador referred to his commission to 
return with the Queen's reply to the camp of Frederick of 
Prussia. "The t Queen said she pitied me. My commission 
would be fruitless in Silesia. I told her it was in her power 
to make it otherwise: that her own fate, that of the Duke, 
that of her whole family, that of Europe depended singly 
on her yielding more or less to the hard necessity of the 
times. She answered what would she not give, excepting 
in Silesia. ' Let him take all we have in Gueldreland. 
But if he is not to be had in that manner, others rnay. 
Let the Princes of the Empire, let King George II speak 
only to the Elector of Bavaria. He may be flexible — there 
may be means to have him.' " 

4 Your Lordship may easily imagine that this long dis- 
course consisted chiefly in sudden starts and momentary 
thoughts, as in scenes of the greatest distress. Though 
the Queen saw that the making up with his Prussian Majesty 
and giving that satisfaction to the King and the English 
nation was the best party she could take, yet she could not 
gain upon herself to take it at any great expense in Silesia. 
' Oh, the King your Master ! ' she said. ' Let him march, 
let him only march 1' Here I presumed to acquaint her 
that the King my Master could not but look upon her 
reluctancy to oblige his Majesty as an ill return for the 



106 MARIA THERESA 

immense sums and forces raised for her service, all of 
which would be of more or less use to her, as she should 
take her present resolution. The answer of both the Queen 
and the Duke was conveyed to me in their casting down 
their eyes, and then in raising them only to throw them 
upon each other. His Highness entered at certain times 
into the conversation, when, by a hint, or a proper obser- 
vation, it might serve to open, as it were, the Queen's 
genius, which does not seem yet capable of an universal 
reflection. Beating about Silesia, attached to that single 
object that pinches the most, she betrayed rather the narrow 
way of thinking of those whom she mostly hearkens to, 
than those talents which I flatter myself will, with time, 
shoot out to more advantage." 

That Robinson's mission to the King of Prussia was per- 
fectly futile goes without saying. " Beggarly offers " was 
Frederick's comment on the unhappy Queen's proposals. 
" With what face shall I meet my ancestors if I aban- 
doned the rights they have transmitted to me? With what 
reputation can I live if I quitted lightly an enterprise, the 
first action of my reign, begun with reflection and carried on 
with firmness?i Have I occasion for peace? Let those 
who want it give me what I want, or let them fight me 
again and be beaten again. Have they not given whole 
kingdoms to Spain, and cannot they spare me a few trifling 
principalities?. Lower Silesia with Breslau is my answer. 
I will never give any other." 

It was not an agreeable answer with which to return to 
Hungary. In the brief interval since Robinson's departure, 
the Elector of Bavaria had poured his troops into Upper 
Austria and, after taking the frontier town of Passau, had 
issued a manifesto reasserting his claim to the whole Aus- 
trian inheritance. 

Writing from Pressburg, Robinson comments on the 
general consternation that prevailed there and in Vienna — 
" consternation augmented by the news I brought. I had 
an interview with the Grand Duke, the Queen being present. 
She declared herself for an immediate negotiation with 
Bavaria. I showed the rashness and incertitude of it to 
the fullest extent. A conference was held after my arrival. 
The Queen I have learned was almost single in her opinion." 



THE INVASION OF AUSTRIA BY FRANCE 107 

With pressure brought to bear upon her on all sides — 
pressure from her own ministers, pressure from the envoys 
of friendly Powers — Maria Theresa did indeed send for a 
map of the debated province, and drew a line considerably 
within the boundary of what was generally regarded as 
Lower Silesia. With this final, reluctantly granted con- 
cession, the British representative betook himself once more 
to the Prussian camp. Ascertaining through his minister, 
Podewils, the nature of this ultimatum, the highly incensed 
Frederick refused to see Robinson. Nay, more, Sir Thomas 
was informed that if he did not return to Austria in all 
haste, his Prussian Maiesty would ascribe unfriendly motives 
to the King of England, in thus compelling his nephew to 
treat with a person whom the latter so much disliked. 
A thankless task was that of the mediator, whose un- 
gracious dismissal by Frederick was followed by a threat 
of mob violence on his reappearance in Vienna. Vain, too, 
was his endeavour to keep Augustus of Poland faithful 
to the cause of Maria Theresa. " The Court of Saxony," 
says he, "complains of my partiality for the King of Prussia; 
the King of Prussia of my partiality for the Queen Of 
Hungary, and the Court of Vienna very often of my par- 
tiality against its interests arid politics. I am the un- 
fortunate victim of all three, if not approved by the King, 
my royal master." 

To Hyndford Frederick showed himself both courteous 
and appreciative, but, so far as the reconciliation of Austria 
arid Prussia was concerned, the efforts of King George's 
special envoy proved as abortive as those of Sir Thomas 
Robinson. The proposed treaty between France and Prussia 
was duly ratified. The French Government guaranteed 
Breslau and Lower Silesia to Frederick. He in return 
renounced his claim to Julich and Berg in favour of the 
Elector Palatine, and definitely promised his vote and sup- 
port to the Elector of Bavaria. 

Sheer persistency had realized the first part of Belleisle's 
dream. Ready to his hand was the peculiar combination 
of forces wherewith he proposed to humiliate Austria, as a 
stepping-stone to the uncontested predominance of France. 
In that country mobilization proceeded apace, and two 
armies were presently encamped on the French frontier. 



108 MARIA THERESA 

One, to be commanded by, Belleisle himself, was destined 
for service on the Danube. The other, under Marshal 
Maillebois, was to cross the Rhine into Westphalia, and 
keep the " Pragmatic Army " of George II safely rnewed 
up in Hanover. Such measures could hardly be construed 
as the acts of a friendly Power, yet it was given out that 
the French were merely sending to the Elector the quota 
of auxiliaries to which they were pledged by treaty. 

The said Elector was utterly devoid of Frederick of 
Prussia's capacity for pushing his own fortunes. Pending 
the arrival of the French contingent, he made no attempt 
to follow up the seizure of Passau on July, 31st, 1741. A 
month passed before the conjunction of the two armies 
could be effected. Not till September 14th did they reach 
the town of Linz, little over a hundred miles from Vienna. 
Linz made no resistance, for the partisans of Bavaria were 
numerous in Upper Austria, and nobles and burghers flocked 
to take the oaths of allegiance to Charles Albert, and to 
acknowledge him as their ruler. Had the French and 
Bavarians pushed on towards Vienna with any vigour, it is 
difficult to see how they could have failed to take the city. 
Its fortifications were out of repair, its garrison was weak, 
and there was no quarter from which any help could be 
obtained, for the only armies of Austria were that of Neip- 
perg, far away in Silesia, and the force with which" Marshal 
Traun was preparing to defend Lombardy against the 
threatened Spanish attack. But the facility with which 
the Elector had obtained possession of Upper Austria, with 
its capital of Linz, induced him to believe that at any time 
he could have Lower Austria and Vienna on the same easy 
terms. The primary object of his ambition was Bohemia, 
and he was nervously, apprehensive lest Prussia or Saxony 
should forestall him by annexing that kingdom. True, 
Augustus, like Frederick, was pledged to support the Ba- 
varian claim — the bribe in his case being Upper Silesia 
and Moravia. Yet so low was the prevailing standard of 
political morality that a prince was apt to dread his reputed 
friends more than his openly avowed enemies. 1 

While the Elector tarried at Passau, he received frequent 

1 A History of Germany, 1715-181$. 



THE INVASION OF AUSTRIA BY FRANCE 109 

reports of strained relations between Maria Theresa and 
the Hungarian Diet. In the circumstances it was natural 
that Charles Albert should interpret in his own favour 
the dissension between his opponent and her subjects. 
Scarcely had the last echo of popular rejoicing died away 
ere the stormy scenes in the Diet were being re-enacted. 
The first bone of contention was the so-called " coronation 
gift " to the Sovereign. The magnates proposed a grant 
of a hundred thousand florins. Considering the deplorable 
state of the country, twelve thousand ducats would be ample, 
said the leaders of the First Chamber, and stuck to their 
point, until both parties bethought them that, in view of the 
depleted treasury, the money must needs be borrowed in 
any case, and that they might as well borrow the larger 
sum. In this half-hearted fashion the Queen obtained her 
gift. 

The adjourned discussion of the Hungarian protocol 
afforded exceptional opportunities for wrangling. More and 
more insistent became the demand for home rule. It was 
declared essential that Maria Theresa should restrict herself 
to the services of native-born Hungarians for the settlement 
of all matters pertaining to the internal government of the 
kingdom, and of all questions affecting Hungary that came 
before the Central Government. Not content with a general 
motion, there followed a long list of provisions for the 
exclusion of foreigners from every, conceivable office in 
Church and State, and from having any part in the distribu- 
tion of the Hungarian revenues. All the rankling hatred 
of Austria, begotten by centuries of injustice and spoliation 
at the hands of German bureaucrats, found expression in the 
measures to which the royal assent was now required. 

Of their general drift the Queen had been fully informed. 
Distrust of Austria involved distrust of herself, and this she 
bitterly resented. Yet, in " those nice and critical times," 
she could not oppose a direct negative to the Hungarian 
demands. Nor, though she felt the need of counsel, could 
she turn to any of her Conference Ministers. Too often, 
since coming to Pressburg, had she heard complaints of the 
way in which her predecessors had taken the opinion of 
Germans on the affairs of Hungary. She had resolved that 
a similar charge should not be brought against herself. 



no MARIA THERESA 

Yet neither the Primate, whom she consulted in the first 
instance, nor Palffy, who shrank from giving her pain, 
could help her to unravel the political entanglement. For- 
tunately the recently appointed Judex Curias, who ranked 
third in the State, proved a very competent adviser. With 
strong nationalist sympathies Esterhazy combined a sincere 
desire for the success of the new reign. 

When Maria Theresa first summoned him to her presence, 
she made no attempt to conceal that she was deeply wounded 
by the suspicion that she might prove unfaithful to her 
coronation vow. She admitted that her German ministers 
were not too friendly to Hungary. But why should not the 
Magyars deal directly with herself, and learn that she had 
their interests very much at heart? The emotion with 
which she besought Esterhazy to mediate between her and 
his fellow-countrymen probably moved him less than the 
young Queen's evident desire to take a fair-minded view 
of the Hungarian position. She had not sent for him, she 
said, merely to listen to an opinion, his judgment would 
weigh with her in forming her answer to the Diet. 

Esterhazy was able to assure her that the continued want 
of confidence exhibited by the Diet had no real significance in 
so far as she herself was concerned; it was but the logical 
outcome of the unwisdom of her forefathers in suffering 
prejudiced Austrians to dictate to Hungary, and to 
misrepresent the nation to its kings. Like Palffy, Esterhazy 
was ready to foster the growing conviction that past mis- 
takes would now be retrieved. The difficulty was that they 
could only point to a reign of a few months. 

In less downcast mood, Maria Theresa turned to the 
consideration of the protocol. The Judex Curias was re- 
quested to explain the full scope of its provisions, and to 
return for further consultation on the ensuing days. 

The contrast between the Queen's earnestness of purpose 
and the supercilious manner in which former Habsburgs 
had approached Hungarian questions, was very striking; 
so much so, indeed, that the more sanguine supporters of 
royalty foretold a speedy and satisfactory settlement of the 
questions at issue. Headed by Palffy, they made a fresh 
attempt to gain the consent of the Diet to the co -regency, 
only, however, to be met with the same objections as here- 



THE INVASION OF AUSTRIA BY FRANCE in 

tofore. If Prussia was to be repelled on the north-west 
frontier, why take a step that would irritate Poland on the 
north-east? As in Austria, so also in Hungary, Augustus 
would regard the advancement of Francis of Lorraine as a 
menace to the claim of his own wife, should Maria Theresa 
and her children predecease the Grand Duke. 

More than a fortnight passed away ere the Queen's answer 
came before the Diet. Much had been conceded; but, 
again, so much had been changed or rejected, that a disin- 
genuous ruler might still find loopholes for escape from 
responsibility. 

The disappointment of the deputies found vent in the 
wildest uproar. Many asserted their intention of quitting 
Pressburg immediately rather than consent to the mutilated 
proposals. The very phraseology of the reply was an 
offence. It was too reminiscent of the communications of 
the late King not to give rise to the suspicion that it did 
not emanate 'from the Queen herself, but from the detested 
Austrian Ministers. 

Fortunately only a few of the deputies fulfilled their threat 
of departure. When the tempest showed some signs of 
moderating, the Queen's supporters prevailed upon the Diet 
to consider the reply from the throne with a view to re- 
vision. The amended measure went some way towards 
satisfying the more aggressive nationalists and sticklers 
for privilege, without undue insistence on what might be 
construed as encroachment on the royal prerogative. 

In no shape or form could the Hungarian proposals 
be otherwise than distasteful to the Austrian Ministers and 
aristocracy, and Maria Theresa was strongly advised to 
withhold her assent. Submission to restrictions not hitherto 
imposed on Hungarian monarchs was intensely repugnant to 
her. Fortunately, however, she was much too clear-headed 
not to perceive that the limit of compromise had been reached. 
Not without risk had the deliberations been prolonged 
throughout the months of July and August (1741). With 
half Europe preparing to contest the Austrian succession, 
and the Elector of Bavaria eager to curry favour with the 
Magyars, they stood to win in any case. Yet one who in 
the art of governing was but " an unlessoned girl," had 
clung so pertinaciously to the time-honoured rights of the 



ii2 MARIA THERESA 

Hungarian Crown that she emerged from the struggle with 
better terms than could have been conceived of at so fateful 
a crisis. Robinson notes that the Queen was beginning 
" to shine out for her sense and talents," and that " her 
Ministers had presumed too much at first upon her inexperi- 
ence and her sex to turn her as they pleased." At the 
present juncture the timid or self-interested protests of Aus- 
trian counsellors were quietly set aside, and the charter 
which had assumed so many forms was, in its final present- 
ment, ratified by the Queen. 

A tussle in which neither side had been worsted left the 
combatants with a feeling of mutual respect that boded 
well for the future. Still following her own judgment, 
Maria Theresa determined to give the Hungarians an un- 
mistakable proof of her confidence in their goodwill. With- 
out their whole-hearted co-operation it was plain that she 
could not raise a force sufficient to repel the Franco- 
Bavarian army which was threatening Vienna. Orders had 
indeed been issued for the recall of ten regiments from 
Traun's army in Italy. But for effective grappling with 
the situation nothing short of a third army was required. 

For generations it had been a fixed principle of Aus- 
trian policy, rather to submit to defeat by the Turks or 
other enemies than authorize any, general arming of the 
Hungarians. So great was the dread lest when the war was 
ended, or even while it was still in progress, the weapons 
should be turned against the Emperor-King. The same 
timidity had led to one of the grievances complained of by 
the Diet, the placing of Hungarian regiments under officers 
of a different race. 

It is easy, therefore, to comprehend the dismay that fell 
upon the hitherto all-powerful Germans when it became 
known that the Queen contemplated nothing less than sum- 
moning to her standard every Magyar who was capable of 
bearing arms. Like the princess in the Arabian Nights, 
who sought treasures on the summit of a mountain, she was 
assailed by a chorus of deterrent voices. Rashness was too 
mild a word to apply to such a scheme: it was very mid- 
summer madness. The proceedings of the Diet had shown 
the Magyars to be as perverse and rebellious as at any 
former period. And so on in the same strain. 



THE INVASION OF AUSTRIA BY FRANCE 113 

To the Austrians, who implored her to abandon the 
thought of a Hungarian army, Maria Theresa probably 
repeated her answer to the Magyars who besought her not 
to insist on a co-regency in Hungary, " I have a strong 
will, and when; I have sworn to myself to do a thing I will 
accomplish it." At all events, she found the means of 
stopping her ears and holding on her way. 

On September 7th, she summoned representatives of both 
Chambers to confer with her at the Castle. With the fluency 
which never deserted her at a critical moment she dealt 
with the dangerous aspects of the political situation, chiefly 
deploring the ill-fortune of her subjects in being exposed 
to the uncertainties of war. She reminded the Hungarians 
that the safety of their country was largely dependent on 
that of the other lands of the House of Austria. She 
therefore proposed to exercise her right as the feudal 
superior of the magnates and prelates to incorporate with 
her own army numbers of fully equipped hussars, regularly 
maintained by the Magyar nobles. This demand was agreed 
to with more enthusiasm than Maria Theresa had ventured 
to expect. The magnates proclaimed their willingness to 
devote themselves, their sons and their revenues to the 
service of the Queen. The immediate raising of an army 
of forty thousand men was decided without a dissentient 
voice. The Sovereign was assured that if Pressburg were 
to come within the sphere of war, she had but to betake 
herself to Raab with her son, to be perfectly secure under 
Hungarian protection. 

Without declining the proposal, Maria Theresa deter- 
mined not to forsake her capitals until there should be actual 
risk in remaining near the Austro-Hungarian frontier. In 
the course of the summer she had spent many days in 
Vienna. Lest its citizens should complain of desertion by 
the Royal Family the heir to the throne had been left at the 
Hofburg, under the care of his grandmother. In view of 
a possible investment of the city, Empress Elizabeth was 
preparing to retire to Gratz. Meanwhile, however, the 
danger was not imminent. Only when it became so was the 
baby Archduke to be brought to Pressburg. 

Encouraged by the support of the great nobles of Hun- 
gary, the Queen resolved to make a bid for help from the 



1 1 4 MARIA THERESA 

nation as a whole. Even with the already decreed addition 
to her military resources, she could not hope to equal, far 
less outnumber, the hosts of her enemies. The royal pre- 
rogative could secure no further increase of troops. There 
was only one chance of ensuring the safety of her inherit- 
ance, but it was doubtful if she could persuade the Hun- 
garian Diet to ordain in her favour an Insurrectio generalis, 
or summons to take up arms throughout the country. The 
Insurrectio had hitherto been associated with some crisis 
in the history of the Magyar kingdom. It would be a new 
departure to invoke for the preservation of the House of 
Austria, a power which the later Habsburgs had regarded 
as too dangerous to be recognized. In view of the strong 
anti- German attitude of the legislators there was also reason 
to fear that if a resolution for a general levy of troops came 
before the Diet there would be a majority against it. 

In the confidence begotten of honesty of purpose, con- 
sistency of policy and dislike of half-measures, Maria Theresa 
was able to brush aside the malcontents who made a last 
effort to stay her course. All the dogged resolution, the 
combativeness, the capacity for leadership which had come 
down to her with her Habsburg blood urged her forward. 
Her husband, who knew the Hungarians, was sympathetic ; 
influential members of the National Assembly were with her 
heart and soul. On September iith numerous representa- 
tives of both Chambers of the Diet were invited to gather 
at the Castle. On the preceding evening Palffy had enter- 
tained them in princely fashion, and done his utmost to 
prepare the way for a loyal response to whatsoever the 
Queen might propose. He was specially careful to acquaint 
his countrymen with the fact that she was acting on her own 
responsibility and contrary to the views of her German 
advisers. 

Even the deputies, who were most averse from the idea 
of making sacrifices save for the actual defence of Hungary, 
were moved at sight of Maria Theresa as she passed be- 
tween the ranks of legislators in the Audience Chamber, 
and took her seat on the throne. Her expression told of 
mingled sorrow and anxiety. The black gown of the 
mourner shrouded the tall figure, hitherto so resplendent in 
her robes of State. There was nothing to divert attention 



THE INVASION OF AUSTRIA BY FRANCE 115 

from the one symbol of royalty assumed for the occasion. 
On her shining hair there rested once more the crown of 
St. Stephen. By the Magyars it was regarded with almost 
superstitious veneration. " It was the symbol of the juris- 
dictional power of the State. ' It is not the holy crown 
which crowns ; it is the will of the people,' declared the. 
parliament of 1440." Significant beyond words was its 
appearance at this national crisis. So jealously was it 
guarded, and so great was the dread of its removal from 
the country, that only the most absolute unanimity between 
Maria Theresa and her Hungarian counsellors could have 
enabled her to take this effective means of reminding her 
subjects that she and they were solemnly pledged to mutual 
support. 

In conformity with the usual custom, the royal proposals 
were prefaced by a statement from the Hungarian Chan- 
cellor. Count Ludwig Batthyany described in detail the un- 
justifiable attacks of foreign princes on the Queen's heredi- 
tary dominions and the straits to which she had thereby been 
reduced. He urged the Magyars to seek lasting fame by 
driving back the enemy and preventing the fall of Vienna, 
if only as a means of ensuring the safety of their own 
country. 

When the eloquent Hungarian oration came to an end. 
Maria Theresa took up the tale of her wrongs in equally 
comprehensible Latin. The emotion which could not be 
kept out of her. voice made her appeal all the more telling. 
" The disastrous situation of our affairs," she said, " has 
moved us to lay before our dear and faithful states of 
Hungary the recent invasion of Austria, the danger now 
impending over this kingdom, and a proposal for the con- 
sideration of a remedy. The very existence of the King- 
dom of Hungary, of our own person, of our children, and 
our crown are now at stake. Forsaken by all, we place 
our sole resource in the fidelity, arms, and long-tried valour 
of the Hungarians ; exhorting you, the states and orders, to 
deliberate without delay in this extreme danger on the most 
effectual measures for the security of our person, of our 
children, and of our crown, and to carry them into imme- 
diate execution. In regard to ourself, the faithful states 
and orders of Hungary shall experience our hearty co-ppera- 



u6 MARIA THERESA 

tion in all things which may promote the pristine happiness 
of this ancient kingdom and the honour of the people." 1 

The youth and beauty of the Queen, the halting voice 
in which she referred to her children, her refusal to be 
fettered by ancient prejudice, the indisputable proof of her 
trust in Hungarian integrity made an overmastering im- 
pression on every one present. The aged Primate, as 
spokesman of the various states and orders, had scarcely 
begun to assure the Sovereign of the support of the entire 
nation, when the hall re-echoed to the sound of hun- 
dreds of sabres half- drawn from the scabbard and then 
thrown back to the hilt, and of hundreds of voices repeating] 
the words first used by Palffy on his appointment as Pala- 
tine, " We consecrate our life and our blood to your most 
sacred Majesty." 

Deeply moved by this manifestation of ze; 1 and loyalty, 
Maria Theresa, " who had hitherto preserved a calm and 
dignified deportment, burst into tears of joy and gratitude." 
The members of the Diet repaired to their Chambers and 
used their restored " right of insurrection " to vote a liberal 
supply of men and money to wage war for the Queen who 
bad so completely won their allegiance. 

From the Germans in her environment came plenty of 
adverse criticism of the day's proceedings. One of their 
number nearly gave rise to disturbance in the Audience 
Chamber. He was overheard to remark that Maria Theresa 
might as well have entrusted herself and her family to the 
devil as to the truculent Magyars. Yet in spite of gloomy 
prognostications neither the Queen nor the Hungarians had 
any cause to rue the day on which they exchanged their 
pledge of mutual trust and helpfulness. 

Even the briefest narrative of the reign of Maria Theresa 
makes mention of this impressive and picturesque incident. 
Her solid contributions to the work of political and social 
reform pale before the appeal to the Hungarian Diet. This 
lack of proportion may be more apparent than real. Had 
the later record of the reign been unworthy, its heroic in- 
auguration would hardly have sufficed for the building of 
an everlasting name. i 

1 This faithful rendering of Maria Theresa's speech is taken from William 
Coxe's History of the House of Austria, Vol. III. 



THE INVASION OF AUSTRIA BY FRANCE 117 

The enthusiasm evoked by the events of September 11th, 
1 74 1, was not confined to Hungary. It spread to every 
part of the dual monarchy. The Allies of Austria, the hero- 
worshippers throughout Europe joined in extolling the 
Queen and devising schemes for her defence. Legend was 
soon busy with the scene at Pressburg. Voltaire, in his 
Steele de Louis Qainze, originated a version of the occur- 
rence still widely accepted as fact. The Queen, with the 
enemy on her track, is represented as fleeing from Vienna 
to Pressburg, and appearing at a session of the Diet with 
her infant son in her arms. Her appeal to the deputies is 
followed by the immediate response, " Moriamur pro rege 
nostro Maria Theresia." Regardless of the indisputable 
evidence of the daily register of the proceedings of the 
Diet, 1 and the equally authoritative record of the cere- 
monial events at Court 2 from day to day; in defiance of 
the narratives of eye-witnesses and contemporary letter- 
writers, including the Queen herself, the garbled story con- 
tinues to circulate. And this although the reality has no 
need of embellishment. Fact testifies more strongly than 
fiction to the hazardous nature of the path which the Queen 
elected to tread, and to the fearlessness with which she 
pursued it to the end. 

The introduction of Archduke Joseph into the scene may 
be traced to the confusion of two separate incidents. After 
the substantial concessions granted by Maria Theresa and 
the demonstration of her unreserved confidence, the Diet 
decided that it would be churlish to offer further opposition 
to the co-regency. With a significant reminder that his 
nominees to vacant offices must be Hungarians, the coveted 
position was offered to the Grand Duke. 

On September 21st a meeting of the Diet was once more 
convened in the Queen's Audience Chamber, and again she 
took her seat on the throne. It was but ten days since the 
events which had made so deep an impression on the 
assembled company. In comparison therewith the installa- 
tion of Francis was a tame enough affair. To Maria 
Theresa, however, it was a matter of surpassing importance, 
and she was keenly sensitive to the general lack of 

^Diarium Dietale. 2 Hof-Zeremoniell Protokoll. 



u8 MARIA THERESA 

enthusiasm. The formalities were scarcely at an end when 
she sent for her infant son. On the previous day there 
had been considerable excitement over the arrival of a 
boat from Vienna with the Archduke and his suite on 
board. And now " at the sight of him the deputies made 
great acclamation." 1 "He was just like a little squirrel," 
said one, who observed the restless movements of his 
diminutive Highness and the bright, observant eyes which 
he had inherited from his mother. His appearance gave 
a pleasant turn to an otherwise strained situation. And the 
installation ended in general satisfaction and the bestowal 
of gifts and titles on those who had been mainly instru- 
mental in bringing about the gratification of the Queen's 
wishes with regard to the status of her consort in Hungary. 

1 Robinson. 



CHAPTER X 

MARIA THERESA AND COUNT SILVA-TAROUCA 

TO Maria Theresa her success in kindling the en- 
thusiasm which was spreading to every part of 
Hungary was but a step towards the vindication 
of her contested rights. She would not suffer herself to 
fancy that it had been taken in vain, though not till after 
many days could her new army be available for service. 
But at every remembrance of Vienna, still in imminent 
peril, she longed passionately to discover new ways of re- 
sisting the invaders. There were moments when she was 
wellnigh overwhelmed with the sense of her own in- 
sufficiency. Even the ordering of her days left much to 
be desired. Do what she would, her manifold duties per- 
sisted in treading on each other's heels. In her singularly 
level-headed estimate of her own character she foresaw 
that, in happier times, her affection for husband and children 
and her delight in various forms of amusement might lead 
her to forget that " she did not belong to herself but to 
the State." She therefore hit on the original idea of 
having always at hand a friendly critic whose chief end 
in life it should be to keep her up to the mark. 

A young constitutional ruler might have looked to her 
Prime Minister for fatherly guidance, as Queen Victoria 
looked to Lord Melbourne. But even if Maria Theresa's 
Ministers had been mental and moral prodigies it would 
have been neither natural nor expedient for the heiress of 
the absolute Habsburgs to confer with any one of them, 
save on matters affecting his own department. It was 
with her a fixed principle and a wise one, to keep strictly 
to religious topics with her confessor. Her husband's eight 
years' seniority ought to have made him more of a help- 

119 



120 MARIA THERESA 

mate than was actually the case. Maria Theresa regarded 
him as too closely identified with herself to be fitted for 
the office of Mentor. The real impediment lay in the 
fact that for all his good points he was not her equal either 
intellectually or morally. 

Her choice for the difficult and delicate post of adviser 
to the Queen's political conscience fell upon one whom she 
had known from childhood. A year or so before her birth 
a young Portuguese nobleman, Count Emanuel da Silva, 
made his way from Lisbon to Vienna, and received a com- 
mission in the army with which Eugene was carrying on 
war with the Turks. Thus, at the age of twenty, Count 
Emanuel took part in the great battles of Peterwardein 
and Belgrade. The victorious Commander-in-Chief noted 
with approval the courage and the modesty of the young 
officer. Lest he should suffer by confusion with the bearer 
of a similar patronymic Eugene advised him to make his 
name more distinctive by adding that of one of the parental 
estates. This was done, and it is by the assumed portion 
of his name that Count Silva-Tarouca is generally known., 

When in the intervals of military service he appeared 
at the Austrian Court, it was in the nalture of things that 
Charles VI should regard with peculiar interest the son of 
a man who, as general in the Portuguese Army, had fought 
on the Habsburg side in the Spanish Succession War. 

A few months before the birth of Maria Theresa, a 
brother of the King of Portugal came on a visit to Vienna. 
The army had gone into winter quarters, so Count Silva- 
Tarouca was able to be in attendance on the prince. They 
became acquainted with Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 
who appears to have found them equally charming. To the 
Abbe Conti she writes: "One of the most accomplished 
men I have seen in Vienna is the young Count Tarouca, who 
accompanies the amiable prince of Portugal. I am almost 
in love with them both, and wonder to see such elegant 
manners and such free and generous sentiments in two 
young men that have hitherto seen nothing but their own 
country." The reporter is obviously jumping to conclu- 
sions with regard to Tarouca, who was in the second year 
of his absence from Portugal. And she is untrustworthy to 
the last degree when she enlarges on the way in which 



MARIA THERESA & COUNT SILVA-TAROUCA 121 

"he succeeds with the devout beauties here." For a 
stranger surrounded by scandal-mongers it must have been 
uncommonly difficult to arrive at a right judgment of the 
characters who figured in Viennese society. So Lady Mary 
assumed that a genuine interest in religion was incompat- 
ible with the zest with which Don Emanuel was entering 
into the pleasures of the Imperial city, and that his reputed 
austerity of morals must be a subtle means of exciting 
the interest of silly women, and making it easy to lead them 
captive. 

It is, however, no superficial pietism, but a deeply rooted 
and reverent Christianity that stands revealed in the pub- 
lished fragments of Tarouca's correspondence. Linked 
therewith is a refinement of thought and feeling incon- 
ceivable apart from refinement of life. Bred for a soldier 
he could make no pretence to scholarship, yet he was not 
devoid of literary culture. An interest in books would, 
as a matter of course, be fostered by his association with 
Prince Eugene, whose library " though not very ample 
was well chosen." The old warrior seems to have dis- 
covered a kindred spirit in the young Portuguese noble 
whom the chance of war had brought to his notice. He 
liked his companionship, and on the last night of Eugene's 
life it was Tarouca who accompanied the frail old man. 
from the house where he had spent the evening to his own 
residence. 

Even the impassive Charles VI felt the attraction of 
Don Emanuel's compelling personality. The latter, after 
the death of Eugene, exchanged the army for the civil 
service, and was attached to the Council for the govern- 
ment of the Austrian Netherlands. At intervals he was 
employed at Brussels, but more frequently he was to be 
found in Vienna, where his ability and discretion gained 
him the respect even of Austrian aristocrats, to whom the 
Spanish and Portuguese occupants of Government posts 
were, as a rule, merely undesirable aliens. 

From the outer circle of the Court, Count Silva-Tarouca 
passed to the less formal region dominated by the Empress 
Elizabeth. Nor did manifestations of friendship stop short 
with their Imperial Majesties. Tarouca had the power, 
somewhat rare in the artificial eighteenth century, of win- 



122 MARIA THERESA 

ning the hearts of children. With the little princesses 
he was soon on a footing of comradeship, and his influence 
over Maria Theresa was one of the most humanizing in 
her early experience. The trustfulness with which she 
learned to regard him was wholly unaffected by the flight 
of time. Her wish that this friend of her girlhood should 
become the guardian of her maturer life was therefore 
perfectly natural. At the 'date of her father's death Tarouca, 
aged forty-four, was still connected with the Council of 
the Netherlands. Yet he was no ordinary official. He 
had been employed by the Emperor in various political 
missions, and this had given him exceptional insight into 
the general working of the machinery of government and 
into the difficulties which beset the new head of the State. 

Shortly after her accession Maria Theresa appointed 
Count Emanuel President of the Council of the Nether- 
lands. She also informed him of the novel position for 
which, in her own mind, he had been designated. A less 
alluring prospect for a high-strung, sensitive mortal could 
hardly be imagined. It meant constant attendance at Court 
in a nondescript capacity, which was bound to give rise 
to suspicion of favouritism on the one part, and of cupidity 
or espionage on the other. Touching and praiseworthy was 
the young Queen's desire for guidance. Gratifying beyond 
measure to the Count was the assurance of her belief in 
his ability and faithfulness. But who could tell if these 
admirable sentiments were likely to be enduring? Should 
the self-imposed curb prove irksome to the Sovereign there 
would probably be an end of Tarouca's much-prized friend- 
ship with the Royal household. Nay more, he could not 
disguise from himself that the withdrawal of the Queen's 
favour would spell wholesale disaster so far as his career 
in Austria was concerned. And he had a newly married 
wife and possible children to consider. 

In view of his manifest reluctance to entertain the pro- 
posal Maria Theresa did not press for a decision, but now 
and again she reverted to the subject. And just about 
the time of her celebrated appeal to the Hungarian Diet 
the offer to Silva-Tarouca was renewed in set terms which 
hardly admitted of a refusal. Even had there been less of 
authoritative command, the issue would doubtless have been 




COUNT EMANUEL SILVA-1 



AROUCA 



MARIA THERESA & COUNT SILVA-TAROUCA 123 

the same. At that crucial moment no friend of the Queen 
could stop to count the cost of any service required by her. 
In this instance also she carried her point. Tarouca ac- 
cepted the precarious position. 

It would be too much to say that he never regretted it. 
Often he chafed against the inevitable restrictions. More 
than once he petitioned to be relieved of his burdensome 
duties. But Maria Theresa was satisfied with her choice of 
preceptor, and sagacious enough to perceive the difficulty 
of replacing him. Over and over again she testifies to 
the value of being enabled to see herself through the eyes 
of a disinterested spectator, of being helped to develop 
the latent powers of her nature. Nor did she resent being 
found fault with when she deserved it. Thus she is warned 
against her propensity to intemperate speech. It is pos- 
sible, says her tutor, for a Queen to convey a strong sense 
of disapprobation without calling a Minister '■' a fool," or 
a general "a coward." Hasty, ill-considered action had 
also to be guarded against. To this end it was well to 
have a set hour for the duties of the day. The following 
time-table is suggested. Supposing Her Majesty should 
fix eight o'clock as the hour for getting up, it is known that 
she spends little time over her toilet, therefore the first hour 
may be chiefly devoted to private prayer, attendance at 
Mass, and the morning coffee, with the sole stipulation 
that it should be drunk while it is hot and not neglected 
till it is out of season and likely to cause indigestion. 
Thereafter a fond mother will want at least half an hour to 
assure herself that all is well with the children of the house- 
hold. From 9.30-1 1.30 is to be given to public business. 
Then the private secretary is to receive instructions as to 
his work for the day, and there will only be time for a 
brief, necessary rest before dinner at 12.15. On no account 
is this meal to be hurried over. Pressing business could 
be attended to afterwards, but as a rule the Queen should 
withdraw to her own apartments to rest and listen to nothing 
more serious than the chatter of the little Archduchess. 
Before 4 o'clock there will be time to see the Empress 
Elizabeth and other members of the family, and regulate 
domestic affairs. From 4-6 would be a good time for 
receiving the Ministers — each having his own appointed 



i2 4 MARIA THERESA 

hour and day. But Wednesday and Saturday were post- 
days, and the afternoons should be reserved for letter- 
writing. Attendance at Vespers, exercise, and amusement 
would fill up the time between 6 o'clock and supper at 
8.30 — except on Sundays and fete days, when the Queen 
would hold a reception. There should be nothing but 
relaxation after supper. 

In after days the time-table was subjected to considerable 
alteration, but the advantages of method were appreciated 
from the first. Tarouca relates that in her eagerness for 
self-improvement the "Queen followed his earlier instructions 
with the docility of a cloistered nun. Later on the 
perversity of human nature sometimes inclined her to dis- 
regard counsels which, though admittedly wholesome, were 
none the less unpalatable. Thereupon Tarouca, being also 
human, protests in rather querulous tone. " Just keep on 
giving me advice," says Maria Theresa on one such occa- 
sion. "If I do not seem to heed it at the time, it always 
comes back to me afterwards." 



CHAPTER XI 

THE PRICE OF THE DELIVERANCE OF VIENNA- 
BRITISH ENTHUSIASM FOR MARIA THERESA— 
THE ELECTOR OF BAVARIA BECOMES KING OF 
BOHEMIA AND EMPEROR CHARLES VII — THE 
INVADERS OF THE DANUBE VALLEY REPELLED 
BY KHEVENHIILLER 

WHEN the baby Archduke was brought away from 
Vienna, it was believed that the city would 
presently be compassed about by the hosts of 
the enemy. " All manner of noble and official people were 
flying elsewhither to covert. The archives were carried to 
Gratz. The two empresses, Maria Theresa's mother and 
aunt, fled different ways. . . . Khevenhiiller, the comman- 
dant of the garrison, who presided with fine scientific calm- 
ness and clearness over the fortifying, was the only force 
left." 1 

But Ludwig Andreas Khevenhiiller was a force to be 
reckoned with. In youth he acquitted himself creditably 
under Prince Eugene. In Italy, during the War of the 
Polish Succession, his reputation was so firmly established 
that he was declared to be the best cavalry officer in the 
Emperor's service. Now, at the age of fifty- eight, he 
enters on the last and most brilliant stage of his career. 

His responsible post had been conferred upon him by 
Charles VI, but he had not held it long enough to be an- 
swerable for the dilapidated bulwarks of the city. At the 
first hint of danger he redoubled his efforts to put the 
capital in a proper state of defence. So swiftly did he 

1 Carlyle, Frederick the Great. 
125 



126 MARIA THERESA 

pass from one vulnerable point of the fortifications to an- 
other that he seemed to be everywhere at once, directing 
the labours of soldiers and civilians who toiled at the 
restoration of walls and earthworks. To Khevenhuller it 
was no reason for slackness that, with his six thousand, he 
could not hold out long against the Elector's fifty thousand. 
Whatever happened, he was determined that at Vienna there 
should be no rehearsal of the tame submission at Linz ; and 
there was always a chance that fortune might prove incon- 
stant to the other side. So it came about that every day 
spent by Charles Albert in 'futile activity found the Imperial 
city a little better prepared to resist him. 

How to assemble a force powerful enough to give battle 
to the Franco -Bavarian army and raise the expected siege 
of Vienna was the problem of problems to Maria Theresa in 
the autumn of 1741. Reluctantly, almost despairingly, she 
was driven to admit that, albeit the Hungarians were flock- 
ing to her standard, the third army could not take the 
field in time to avert the fall of the Austrian capital. 
Neither was there any further hope of succour by means 
of the Pragmatic army. With France mounting guard over 
the south-west of Hanover, and Prussia over the south-east, 
George II could make no advance either towards Silesia 
or the Danube without exposing his electorate to attack. 
On September 27th he felt himself constrained to sign a 
treaty of neutrality. This pledged him not to assist Maria 
Theresa for a year, or to vote for her husband at the 
Frankfort election. 

For a moment it seemed as if Belleisle's scheme were 
going to succeed in its entirety. All the Electors were 
actively or passively ranged against the House of Austria. 
Russia, whence Maria Theresa expected help, had been 
dexterously inveigled by France into war with Sweden. 
Spain was becoming more aggressive in Italy. The death 
of the Queen of Sardinia, who was also a sister of Francis 
of Lorraine, severed the strongest line of attachment be- 
tween the Courts of Vienna and Turin, just when it was 
desirable that it should hold firmly. The crafty widower 
was evidently veering to the side of the Bourbons. Frederick 
of Prussia had nearly succeeded in cutting off Neipperg's 
army from its base. 



PRICE OF THE DELIVERANCE OF VIENNA 127 

In bygone days many a monarch had acted on the 
assumption that might was right; but, lest his design of 
overreaching a weaker neighbour should end in his being 
haled before the international judgment-seat, the aggressor 
was generally careful to shroud his intentions in a cloak 
of plausible verbiage. It remained for the eighteenth cen- 
tury and the War of the Austrian Succession to exhibit 
a whole company of despots, who make no effort worth 
mentioning to conceal their policy of cynical opportunism. 
To this spectacle of monarchy divested of all its nobler 
attributes has been traced the rise of the movement which 
culminated in the French Revolution. 1 

The query as to how far Maria Theresa was herself 
affected by the corrupt political standard of her age may be 
safely relegated to the end of her reign. In its initial 
stages she forms a most notable contrast to the adepts in 
chicanery and shilly-shallying who held sway in other Euro- 
pean countries. Nor can it be argued that necessity left 
her no option as to her course, that in like circumstances 
a similar attitude would have been assumed by any normally 
constituted ruler eager to retain possession of ancestral 
dominions. Such contentions only hold good up to the 
moment when she is brought face to face with apparently 
insuperable difficulties. At this point her opponents, taking 
for granted that they had an average mortal to deal with, 
fully expected that she would abandon what they regarded 
as antiquated ideas about national honour and international 
rights. With callous unconcern they anticipated the last 
struggles of their victim, picturing her unavailing efforts 
to drive satisfactory bargains with her tormentors, and her 
eventual yielding to their numerical superiority, with much 
bemoaning of the hardness of her fate. 

That there were times when the Queen's high spirit 
v/as daunted by the bleakness of the prospect before her 
goes without saying. Writing to her mother-in-law, she 
expresses doubt if there will be left to her a single town 
wherein she may find peace and safety in the spring of 
1742, when her next confinement was expected. With 
Maria Theresa, however, the downcast mood was of short 

1 See Albert Sorel, L 'Europe et la Revolution Francaise. 



128 MARIA THERESA 

duration. It has no place in the story of the anxious weeks 
and months in which she systematically played the man. 

To a British pamphleteer it seemed indeed that she 
possessed a monopoly of virile qualities. Feigning to 
borrow the lantern of Diogenes and to renew the famous 
search, " the most noted people at present in the world " 
are passed in review. The claims of contemporary kings 
and statesmen to manhood are dismissed with scorn, but 
the object of the quest is at last discovered in the female 
King of Hungary. 1 

Not till we come to the days of Garibaldi and the 
Liberation of Italy have we anything approximating the 
enthusiasm of the English people for the cause of Maria 
Theresa during the earlier stages of the War of the Austrian 
Succession. George IPs agreement to the treaty of neu- 
trality was denounced in scathing terms. " The newspapers 
are full of it," writes Horace Walpole, "the press teems." 
A balladist hit off the situation by depicting His Britannic 
Majesty as a fraudulent sea-captain. The proprietors of 
his vessel, compassionating his Hungry sister, had made 
him a generous allowance for her relief, but — 

" His sister, whom he to his owners had sworn 
To see duly settled before his return, 
He gulls with bad messages sent to and fro, 
Whilst he underhand claps up a peace with her foe." 

In popular parlance Hanover is referred to as Terra 
Damnosa. The allied monarchs are "purple homicides." 
The Queen of Hungary, " a princess who has hitherto worn 
a crown of thorns," is extolled on all hands. The Queen 
of Spain, " a fury let loose for a curse to all Europe," is 
not to be named in the same breath as Maria Theresa. 

Hatred of the one Queen was as natural as kindly feeling 
for the other. England was still at war with the country 
which was virtually governed by the " termagant " con- 
sort of Philip V. Whereas the Habsburg Sovereign was ex- 
pected to follow in the track of her predecessors so far as 
it led to friendship with the Sea Powers, and opposition to 
the House of Bourbon. 

1 Dennis Coetlogan, Diogenes' Rambles, 



PRICE OF THE DELIVERANCE OF VIENNA 129 

There was therefore no lack of British sympathy when 
Maria Theresa turned from France to Bavaria, and from 
Bavaria to Saxony, only to find that the offers which she 
felt justified in making would not suffice to buy off a single 
adversary. Driven to the last extremity she was constrained 
to admit that Neipperg's army was the one force which' 
could save Vienna. And, albeit with the utmost loathing, 
she consented to the only means of setting it free — an 
acceptance of Frederick's terms. It is easy to blame her 
for rejecting the counsel of those who had advocated this 
step when it would have gained her an alliance instead of 
the mere neutrality which was offered now, but the agree- 
ment would scarcely have amounted to more than a neu- 
trality, no matter by what name it was called. Maria 
Theresa and Frederick were far from the end of their 
quarrel, though neither was unwilling to gloze it over for a 
season. The services of Hyndford were therefore requi- 
sitioned to more purpose than on the former occasion. 
The result was the secret Convention of Klein-Schnellen- 
dorf, October 9th, 1741, whereby, with every intention of 
recovering her loss when she had shaken herself free of 
her other enemies, Maria Theresa agreed to Frederick's 
demand for Lower Silesia and Breslau. 

The Austrian commander broke up his camp on October 
1 6th and marched off through the mountains to Moravia. 
At the end of three weeks he reached its eastern frontier, 
en route for Prague, which was threatened by an army 
of twenty thousand Saxons. The Elector of Bavaria was 
nearly in sight of Vienna when he heard of the new de- 
velopment. " Instead of striking at the great seat of his 
enemy's power, when he had it almost in his grasp," he 
changed his plans and marched his army into Bohemia to 
secure the possession of Prague. It was an incredibly 
short-sighted proceeding, for the capture of Prague would 
have been involved in the fall of the Habsburg capital. 
Now, whatever happened in Bohemia, Maria Theresa had at 
least procured the brief interval which was all that was 
needed for the concentration of her army of Hungarians. 

Had Neipperg been gifted with any skill in seizing the 
skirts of happy chance, he might at this juncture have 
wrought confusion amongst the enemies of the Queen. 

9 



i 3 o MARIA THERESA 

Yet although everything depended on reaching Prague while 
the Allies were still widely separated, he displayed the 
same fatal leisureliness which had ruined the Austrian cause 
in Silesia. Nor was there any prospect of better things 
when the Grand Duke Francis joined the army as Com- 
mander-in-Chief. The Austrians had merely two dilatory 
leaders instead of one. In place of engaging in a neck- 
and-neck race for Prague, Francis called a halt of four 
days, and, as a matter of course, was outdistanced by the 
Franco -Bavarian army, which had abundance of time to 
join forces with the Saxons under the walls of the menaced 
capital. The city surrendered to the first assault of the 
brilliant Count Maurice de Saxe. 

The Austrian army fell back to a position about fifty 
miles south of Prague. The Elector of Bavaria was crowned 
King of Bohemia on December 19th, and, after appointing 
a council for the administration of the country, took his 
departure for Frankfort, where the Electoral Diet had 
assembled. 

France was now able to compass her first object. The 
Imperial Crown was wrested from the House of Austria, and 
on February 1 2th the new King was crowned Emperor by 
the title of Charles VII. 

Though Belleisle had pulled all the wires which brought 
about this result, it was popularly attributed to the under- 
hand dealings of Fleury, still the nominal dictator of the* 
policy of France. A contemporary cartoon exemplifies 
British commiseration of the woes of Maria Theresa, and' 
British contempt for their supposed author. It is sometimes 
labelled " The Cardinal's Masterpiece, or Europe in a 
Flurry" and sometimes "The Raree Show from Prague." 1 
In a large hall, kings, electors, and other political characters 
are grouped about a table, on which is displayed a map of 
Central Europe. Cardinal Fleury, the custodian of the map, 
is evidently assigning territories to the rulers of Bavaria, 
Saxony, and Prussia, who follow the movements of his 
pointer. A doorway on one side of the hall gives entrance 
to Maria Theresa, carrying her son and accompanied by 

1 The illustration is from a Dutch reproduction of the popular cartoon 
Part of the original is omitted. Political and Personal Satires, Vol. XIII, 
No. 2503. 



PRICE OF THE DELIVERANCE OR VIENNA 131 

her husband. Francis is crownless, wigless, and clad merely 
in his undergarments. A key to the crowded scene is 
supplied by a set of verses in broken English, which are 
put into the mouth of an unseen showman. The refrain is 
manifestly suggested by the cock as a symbol of France. 

" Who see my Raree Show from Prague ? 
It represent de grand Intrigue 
Christened by some de Holy League. 

Doodle, doodle, do. 

Who he dat at de table stand 
Like Moses with his powerful wand 
Dividing up de promised land ? 

Doodle, doodle, do. 

O dat be he, de famous he, 
Who order tings as dey shall be 
On land, and some tink too at sea. 

Doodle, doodle, do. 

Who those that do de map inspect ? 
O dey be three ob de Elect, 
Dey take whatever he direct. 

Doodle, doodle, do. . . . 

Who be de Lady wid de child ? 

Dat be de Hongar's Queen quite wild 

To find herself so basely guiled 

Doodle, doodle, do. 

' Lo Babe, your parent by my side 

Quite stripped of all — Ye Gods,' she cryed, 

' In kings and princes who'd confide? 5 

Doodle, doodle, do." 

By bitter experience Maria Theresa had come to know 
the precariousness of putting trust in princes. Her reliance 
on military commanders had so far been equally disap- 
pointing. Her fortunes had reached their lowest ebb ere 
she realized that in Khevenhuller she had a general who 
possessed in no small degree the promptitude, resolution, and 
mergy that were lacking in Neipperg and in her husband. 

When the Franco -Bavarian army fell back from Vienna 
:h'e Queen promptly decided to return to the Hofburg. 
3i December 1 ith the citizens of the Austrian capital 
celebrated their deliverance from threatened danger, and 



i 3 2 MARIA THERESA 

the return of their Sovereign. Her arrival had been pre- 
ceded by that of her sister and children. 

Ten days later the Viennese were once more blocking 
the streets and crowding to the windows and doorways, in 
order to watch the departure of Khevenhiiller and his army 
of sixteen thousand men. The recovery of Upper Austria 
was his primary object. But the ill-advised strategy of 
Charles Albert had exposed Bavaria itself, as well as the 
province which had just acknowledged the Bavarian over- 
lordship. A double blow could therefore be aimed at this 
particular enemy. So while Khevenhiiller advanced rapidly 
up the Danube Valley, his able coadjutor, General Bernklau, 
with ten thousand additional troops, was making his way 
through the Tyrol in order to turn the tables on the new 
Emperor by threatening Munich. 

" The move was an instant success. Upper Austria was 
recovered, Bavaria overrun and laid waste by Bernklau 's 
moss troopers. The French contingent left behind on 
the Danube, was driven in on Linz and cooped up there. 
Unable to escape, it was forced to capitulate on January 
24th, 1742. It was a remarkable coincidence that on that 
very day on which not only Linz but Passau fell into 
Austrian hands, Charles Albert was being elected Emperor 
at Frankfort. Similarly, on the day of his coronation, 
February 1 2th, Munich capitulated to escape being plun- 
dered by the enemy. With the exception of Ingolstadt 
and one or two other strong places, all Bavaria was in 
Austrian hands." 1 

Meanwhile Maria Theresa had contrived to dissociate 
both her husband and Neipperg from the control of the 
army in Bohemia. The new commander was her brother- 
in-law, Prince Charles of Lorraine. Neipperg was reap- 
pointed to his former governorship at Luxemburg. The 
Queen would have preferred to keep Francis at her side. 
In his absence she was consumed with anxiety as to his 
personal safety. And when her sharp eyes perceived that 
he was no heaven-born commander, she dreaded lest one 
whose reputation was so dear to her should compromise 
himself by any glaring mistake. 

1 A History of Germa?iy, 1715-181$, pp. 127-8. 



PRICE OF THE DELIVERANCE OF VIENNA 133 

At the same time she could not but admit the justifica- 
tion of the Grand Duke's plea that, without loss of prestige, 
he could not withdraw from active service while the 
monarchy was still in danger. He foresaw a certain dis- 
tinction for those who were on the winning side at the 
impending capture of Linz. The .Queen therefore consented 
to the separation which would enable her spouse to shine 
in the reflected glory of Khevenhuller. 

No words can describe her relief and gratitude and exul- 
tation when every messenger brought her news of the suc- 
cess of the army which she had literally called into exist- 
ence. To its commander she sent, by her consort, a portrait 
of herself and her son, together with the following letter: 

" Dear and Faithful Khevenhuller, 

!' Here you behold the Queen, who knows what it 
is to be forsaken by the whole world. And here also is 
the heir to her throne. What do you think will become of 
this child?j 

" To you, as a true and tried servant of the State, your 
most gracious Lady offers this picture of herself and, there- 
with, her whole power and resources — everything in fact 
that her kingdom contains or can effect. You, the hero 
and faithful vassal, shall dispose of all things as you think 
fit, and according as you would render account before God 
and the world in general. May your achievements be as 
renowned as those of your master, the great Eugene, who 
rests in God. Be fully assured that, now and always, you 
and your family will never lack the grace and favour and 
thanks of myself and my descendants. A world-wide fame 
will also be yours. 

" Fare well and fight well, 

" Maria Theresa " 

When the series of Austrian triumphs was reported in 
England, London was almost as jubilant as Vienna. " The 
great success of the Queen of LIungary's arms " was one 
cause for satisfaction, " The number of blows and thwarts 
which the French had received " was another. But Fred- 
erick of Prussia was not well pleased. He had agreed to 
the Convention of Klein-Schnellendorf for the very purpose 



i 3 4 MARIA THERESA 

of thwarting France and keeping her from becoming the 
arbiter of events in Europe. Nevertheless, he could not 
survey the brightening prospects of Austria with any equa- 
nimity. If Maria Theresa contrived to shake off her other 
assailants she would assuredly seek to deprive him of Silesia 
ere the province had been secured to him by a general treaty. 
So far as he was concerned the neutrality had already ful- 
filled its object. France was less formidable, and his men 
were thoroughly rested. Frederick therefore reverted to his 
former alliance with France, Bavaria, and Saxony for the 
partition of the Austrian dominions. 

Before the end of December the Prussians had crossed 
the frontier of Moravia and seized the important town of 
Olmutz. A more skilful move could scarcely have been 
devised. It threatened the position of both Austrian armies, 
the one in Bohemia and the other in Bavaria. It again 
exposed Vienna to extreme risk. If the leaders of the French 
and Saxon armies, then at Prague, had seen their way to 
vigorous co-operation with Frederick, Maria Theresa's chief 
capital, and possibly the Queen herself, might have been 
captured by the Allies. Fortunately for her the French 
and Saxons refused to budge, so the task of dislodging 
Frederick besame relatively simple. Ten thousand men 
were withdrawn from the army in Bavaria and stationed 
between the enemy and the capital. Companies of Hun- 
garian horsemen appeared on the frontiers of Moravia and 
threatened Frederick's communications with Silesia. He 
had also to face the certainty of attack by Charles of 
Lorraine at the head of the main Austrian army. Lest he 
should be hemmed in by his opponents, the Prussian King 
decided to abandon his advantageous position and to lead 
his army into Bohemia. 

Enraged at the conduct of his Allies, Frederick turned 
to Maria Theresa and volunteered to resume his attitude 
of neutrality if she would cede to him, not only Upper and 
Lower Silesia, but the County of Glatz, together with certain 
territories in Bohemia. The Queen indignantly refused to 
consider the extortionate proposal. But Frederick's victory 
over Charles of Lorraine at Chotusitz, on the Upper Elbe, 
paved the way to more satisfactory negotiations. Like 
Mollwitz, " the battle of Chotusitz was a Prussian victory 



PRICE OF THE DELIVERANCE OF VIENNA 135 

but hardly an Austrian defeat." It sufficed to make both 
Frederick and Maria Theresa genuinely desirous of peace. 
The former was alarmed because he could no longer pre- 
vent the active intervention of England on behalf of the 
Queen of Hungary. Walpole, the great advocate of peace, 
had fallen from power. Lord Carteret, the new Foreign 
Minister of George II, had determined on a bold scheme 
of policy. The projected revival of the Grand Alliance 
for the humiliation of France was no longer to be delayed. 
To begin with there was to be an end of the half-hearted 
support of Austria. The King of Prussia's claim to Silesia 
could not be disallowed, for his adhesion to the scheme 
was ardently desired; but to all other would-be despoilers 
of Maria Theresa's inheritance the cry must be " Hands 
off." So long as she was engaged in a struggle for her 
rights, it was obvious that she could do little to further 
the ends of the Grand Alliance. 

Frederick's elation over his success at Chotusitz did not 
blind him to the fact that Maria Theresa had also gained 
a point, and that she might secure several more in the 
near future. Thus it came about that the first overtures 
for peace were made by the victor in the recent battle. That 
he was sincere was evident from the lowering of his de- 
mands. He still made a point of retaining Glatz, which he 
had occupied during the campaign, but there was no further 
reference to lands in Bohemia. His minister Podewils 
was soon in conference with Lord Hyndford, who had 
been empowered to negotiate on behalf of the Queen of 
Hungary. On June 1 ith they signed the Preliminaries 
of Breslau, which were afterwards ratified by both sover- 
eigns. Maria Theresa ceded to the King of Prussia the 
County of Glatz as well as Upper and Lower Silesia, with 
the exception of the principalities of Troppau and Teschen. 
In return for such substantial concessions the Austrians 
naturally hoped for an offensive and defensive alliance; but 
Frederick would only promise the immediate recall of the 
Prussian troops from Austrian territory and give a pledge 
of neutrality. These Preliminaries were formed into a defin- 
itive treaty, which was signed at Berlin on July 28th, 1742. 
With the Treaty of Berlin the first Silesian War comes to a 
close. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE TABLES TURNED ON THE FRENCH, BA- 
VARIANS, AND SPANIARDS— MARIA THERESA'S 
CORONATION AS QUEEN OF BOHEMIA — THE 
MARRIAGE OF HER SISTER TO PRINCE 
CHARLES OF LORRAINE 

THE political history of Europe in the eighteenth 
century finds humorous illustration in the carica- 
tures of contemporary English artists. Thus the 
diplomatic and military events of the year 1742 are ably 
summarized in a cartoon known as The Tables Turned. 
It represents a 'dining-hall with a round table in the middle. 
The cloth is spread, the covers are laid. A two-headed 
Habsburg eagle is served up on the central dish. One of 
its wings is amissing. It has been transferred to the plate 
of Frederick of Prussia, the only member of the company 
who has contrived to secure a seat at the table and a 
helping from the dish. Other potentates would fain do 
likewise; but the approach to the table is guarded by 
Maria Theresa, who lays about her with a horsewhip. The 
immediate object of castigation is the King of France. 
Though he was never so entirely in her power as is indi- 
cated by the cartoonist, there is no doubt about the blows 
which she was instrumental in inflicting upon him. 

Within two months of Frederick's withdrawal from the 
strife, British influence had induced Augustus of Poland and 
Saxony to accede to the Treaty of Berlin. Thus Maria 
Theresa was left free to concentrate her attack on France 
and Bavaria. Belleisle, who had resumed command of 
the French troops in Bohemia, found himself in a perilous 
position. Absolutely isolated and exposed to the onslaught 
of superior forces all he could do was # to bolster up the 

136 



THE TABLES TURNED ON THE FRENCH 137 

Emperor's cause at Prague. Maria Theresa had pleas- 
ing visions of securing him and his entire army as prison- 
ers. " Their unconditional surrender would be some com- 
pensation for the injury France had done her. They would 
also be a valuable diplomatic asset." The Grand Duke 
Francis, still in search of military laurels, undertook the 
investment of Prague. 

But rather than suffer Belleisle and his garrison to fall 
into the hands of the enemy, the French Government deter- 
mined to send to their aid the force with which Maillebois 
had been overawing Hanover. This movement forced the 
Grand Duke to raise the siege in order to interpose his 
army between the Bohemian capital and the advancing 
corps. Great on both sides were the issues at stake, urgent 
the need of decisive action, yet neither commander would 
face the risks of a battle. Beyond the fact that they kept 
each other in check for the greater part of the winter 
their record for the campaign of 1742-3 is a blank. 

The spiritless conduct of Francis is even more inex- 
plicable than that of his opponent, Khevenhuller having 
marched his troops into Bohemia for the express purpose 
of supplementing the Grand Duke. From this combina- 
tion of forces, which was expected to spell victory for the 
Queen of Hungary, the sole beneficiary was the Emperor 
Charles VII. For the weakening of Austrian control on 
the Danube enabled the Bavarians to drive the invaders 
out of their country. Charles, who had been an exile in 
Frankfort ever since his coronation, ventured back to 
Munich. 

Without French support it was unlikely that he would 
be suffered to remain there. France, however, was be- 
coming more and more concerned for her own safety. Since 
Maillebois had failed to defeat the Austrians, and was there- 
fore unavailable for further service in Western Germany, 
the way was left open for an advance of the Pragmatic 
army. English reinforcements were poured into Holland. 
Lord Stair, the commander, might conceivably resolve to 
strike a blow for Maria Theresa in France itself. In the 
interest of the new storrn-centre, the old one was less re- 
garded. Belleisle, despairing of relief, determined to break 
out of Prague with his shattered regiments. 



138 MARIA THERESA 

The blockade abandoned by Francis had been resumed 
by Lobkowitz, a Bohemian commander. His extremely lax 
oversight made it possible for Belleisle to lead the effective 
portion of the French army not only beyond the city wall, 
but beyond reach of the besiegers in the course of a single 
night (Dec. i6th-i7th, 1742). Yet while the sortie was 
brilliantly successful, the ensuing retreat is only compar- 
able to Napoleon's return from Moscow. Fourteen thou- 
sand men set out from Prague, but it was a sadly diminished 
host that reached the Bavarian frontier ten days later. More 
than twelve hundred soldiers had perished during the forced 
march of a hundred miles through " a country covered 
with snow, broken by almost impassable mountains, abound- 
ing in defiles, and infested by the irregular troops of the 
enemy. The roads, overspread with corpses, were dreadful 
to behold." 1 Many of the fugitives succumbed to fever and 
exhaustion when the terrible journey was over. 

The French appear to have found some consolation in 
comparing the retreat of Belleisle with that of Xenophon 
and his Ten Thousand. But nothing could blunt the edge 
of Maria Theresa's disappointment at the failure to inter- 
cept the retiring garrison. While it was satisfactory to 
reflect that Bohemia and its capital were once again under 
Austrian rule, the thought of how much more might have 
been accomplished made the Queen chafe against circum- 
stances which kept her away from the head- quarters of the 
army. Looking back on the course of the war she always 
maintained that, if it had not been for the frequent addi- 
tions to her nursery, she would have taken command 
herself. 

The complete failure of Belleisle 's great scheme is in- 
geniously indicated in the cartoon of The Tables Turned. 
On the wall of the apartment opposite the French king the 
Mene Tekel inscription is appearing. The treaty for the 
partition of Austria has fallen from his pocket and a dog 
is going to make off with it. There is a forcible reminder 
that Maria Theresa had to defend her inheritance in 
Southern as well as in Central Europe. While taking 
vengeance on France with the whip in her right hand, the 

1 Coxe, House of Austria, Vol. Ill, p. 287. 



THE TABLES TURNED ON THE FRENCH 139 

Queen strikes backward with her left, hitting Don Carlos, 
King of Naples, and his brother, Don Philip. 

In Italy the key of the situation was held by Charles 
Emanuel of Sardinia. His kingdom has been aptly de- 
scribed as "the Prussia of Italy." He was as eager as 
Frederick to extend his boundaries and as heedless of the 
means he employed, so long as he gained his ends. " While 
determined to reap all the advantage he could from Maria 
Theresa's embarrassment, he viewed with great hostility 
Elizabeth Farnese's schemes for her second son. Lom- 
bardy, which she proposed to conquer for Don Philip, was 
the last place in which the Sardinians could with equanimity 
see Bourbons established. The instinct for holding the 
balance between rivals drove Charles Emanuel to the side 
of Austria as being the weaker, and though he negotiated 
simultaneously with both parties, it was with Austria that 
he came to terms in February, 1742." 1 As a result of 
this agreement Traun, the Austrian general, took command 
of a Sardinian army destined to act conjointly with his 
own troops. His object was to check the advance of a 
newly landed Spanish army with reinforcements from 
Naples. As it happened the Neapolitan regiments were 
presently recalled. A British fleet had severed communi- 
cation by sea between Spain and Italy, and the admiral 
in command had been threatening to bombard Naples. Don 
Carlos was thus left with no option save to withdraw from 
the coalition against Austria. 

The Tables Turned shows him gazing ruefully at the 
Queen of Hungary and calling to his brother, " She's broke 
my nose, Phil." Philip, dodging to avoid a blow, replies, 
"Let's run, Don Carlos." The frenzied Queen of Spain 
exclaims, " She'll kill my poor children," nor is she likely 
to be consoled by her husband's remark, " The road to 
crowns is dangerous, madam." 

It was destined to become more dangerous still. Traun's 
decisive victory over the Spaniards at Camposanto (Feb- 
ruary 8th, 1743) was a severe blow to Don Philip. His 
mother was not, however, at the end of her resources. 
When his cause had been strengthened by marriage with 

1 A History of Germany , i/i^-iSr^, p. 142. 



i 4 o MARIA THERESA 

a daughter of Louis XV, Don Philip renewed his attempt 
to appropriate an Italian crown. 

An earlier event of the same year was the death of 
Cardinal Fleury. Recent occurrences had brought him back 
to his original conviction that peace was the most pressing 
need of France. So far as that country was concerned the 
initial advantages of war had proved singularly evanescent. 
The French candidate had already been ousted from the 
Bohemian throne. His position as ruler of Bavaria was 
in jeopardy. To France he owed his title of Emperor, 
but he could exert no influence on her behalf, and had to 
be maintained at her charges. 

It was shortly after the Cardinal's decease that^ as already 
mentioned, the Bavarians contrived to shake off the Aus- 
trian yoke. It was speedily reimposed. At Simbach, on 
their eastern frontier, they were hopelessly defeated by the 
army under Charles of Lorraine (May 7th). Three weeks 
after his arrival in Munich the luckless Emperor was again 
in exile. 

Thus Maria Theresa's longing for a victory at the out- 
set of the new campaign was fully satisfied. The news of 
triumph found her in Prague. The herald dispatched by 
Prince Charles reached the ancient city on the Moldau in 
the early hours of May 1 2th. No bearer of good tidings 
ever arrived at a more opportune moment. Things were 
not working too smoothly at Prague. Maria Theresa had 
bitterly resented the defection of Bohemia. She admitted 
that the people in general could scarcely do otherwise than 
submit to whatsoever power was in the ascendant. Her 
quarrel was with the bulk of the Bohemian nobility. Here 
was a kingdom pledged to support the Pragmatic Sanction, 
yet the leaders of the nation, men who owed their lands and 
titles to Habsburg generosity, had not scrupled to enthrone 
another monarch in her stead. Gratitude and fidelity were 
such marked features of her own character that when 
weaker natures disregarded their claims she was apt to 
discount the strength of the temptation. Bohemia had been 
weighed in the balances and found wanting. There was 
nothing more to be said. The inhabitants would find their 
privileges curtailed. The Jews, whom she loathed and 
suspected of being peculiarly disloyal, were to be bundled 



THE TABLES TURNED ON THE FRENCH 141 

out of the country neck and crop. As for the faithless 
nobles, they should be made to feel the weight of Habsburg 
displeasure. 

Her favour was therefore exclusively reserved for 
Bohemians who had never wavered in their allegiance to 
the House of Habsburg. Especially gracious did she show 
herself to men of rank and influence who had held aloof 
from her rival and his Court. They now took the lead in 
all things, and did their utmost to assure an enthusiastic 
reception for the legitimate Sovereign. Their efforts were 
creditably seconded by the people as a whole. The citizens 
of Prague, among whom were many Jews, were specially 
anxious to appease the irate monarch. They made lavish 
display of decorations. They could not, however, conceal 
the deplorable aspect of streets in which every building 
was more or less of a ruin. Years must elapse ere there 
could be any revival of the stately magnificence of the city 
wherein, as girl and boy, the Queen and her consort had 
first been brought together. 

Though Francis had no part in the impending installa- 
tion of his wife as Queen of Bohemia, he was to have a 
more honourable position as spectator than at Pressburg. 
Yet the ceremony failed to arouse in Maria Theresa a 
fraction of the interest appertaining to her former corona- 
tion. If the Hungarians had proved less plastic than she 
could have wished, they had at least made her the direct 
successor to her father's crown. 

By contrast there was now to be placed on her head a 
crown which she looked upon as contaminated by its asso- 
ciation with the puppet of France. It had become, she 
declared, " uncommonly like a fool's cap," a remark which 
did not endear her to Bohemians who had not forgotten 
the conciliatory Charles of Bavaria. In the antipathetic 
atmosphere at Prague, plots for the restoration of the evicted 
monarch were likely enough to be hatched. Hence the 
timeliness of the victory at Simbach which made it unthink- 
able that the Emperor would ever regain his lost ground. 

As if by magic a new spirit manifested itself in the 
relations of governor and governed. Uncertainty and 
mutual distrust began to make way for a sense of com- 
munity of interest. The Queen had hitherto insisted on 



142 MARIA THERESA 

an inconveniently early hour for the coronation. Her sole 
idea was to get it over as soon as possible. She now 
announced that the ceremony would be preceded by the 
public thanksgiving for victory. With the music of the Te 
Deum still sounding in her ears, and all that it implied 
foremost in her mind, Maria Theresa found in her second 
coronation an unexpected fulness of meaning. And she 
noted with satisfaction the enthusiasm of her reception by 
the crowds that filled the streets and surrounded the palace. 

The festivities of May 1 2th were continued on May 
1 3th — Her Majesty's twenty-sixth birthday. Prince Charles 
sent as a gift the standards taken from the enemy. During 
the remaining weeks of her residence at Prague, and in 
the course of her journey back to Vienna, she was cheered 
by reports of various successes gained by her troops over 
the French and Bavarians. For this run of good luck her 
brother-in-law received rather more than his share of praise. 
Deference to the counsels of Khevenhiiller, the chief of the 
staff, contributed in no small degree to the fortunate issue 
of operations against the enemy on the Bavarian frontier. 
Charles VII was constrained to withdraw the residue of his 
soldiers to neutral ground, and leave his electorate in the 
custody of Austria till the close of the war. 

Meanwhile, the Pragmatic army had been marching up 
the valley of the Main in order to join forces with the 
Austrians. Under the command of George II it scored a 
victory over the French at Dettingen. But His Majesty 
was so nearly taken prisoner that his successors on the 
British throne have never been suffered to expose them- 
selves to similar risks. The Battle of Dettingen was fought 
on June 27th, 1743, the very day on which the Emperor 
assented to the humiliating Convention with Austria. 

Maria Theresa, victorious on every side, had a unique 
opportunity of making peace on advantageous terms. The 
Emperor offered to renounce all claim to her inheritance 
and to abandon the French alliance provided he were left 
in undisputed possession of Bavaria and the Imperial title. 
But the Queen would hear of no peace which did not 
award her compensation for the loss of Silesia, " the fairest 
jewel of her crown." And where was compensation to be 
had if not in Bavaria? She declined to relinquish her grasp 



THE TABLES TURNED ON THE FRENCH 143 

of the electorate. As a matter of principle it was, she 
said, incumbent on her to go on with the war until she had 
an equivalent for every inch of alienated territory. As for the 
Emperor, let France extricate him from the bog into which 
she had lured him, and endow him with a new principality. 

Thus Maria Theresa turned her back on the proffered 
olive branch, and prepared to throw herself whole-heartedly 
into the anti-Bourbon crusade of England and Holland. 
She would have preferred a more independent course, but 
her treasury was still empty, and a continuation of English 
subsidies had to be purchased by her assent to the Treaty 
of Worms which leagued Austria with the Maritime Powers, 
Saxony and Sardinia (Sept., 1743). A secret article 
pledged Austria and Sardinia to drive the Bourbons out of 
Italy. 

On the resumption of hostilities Prince Charles was to 
carry the war into the enemy's country and seek to recover 
Alsace and Lorraine. But before setting out on a new 
adventure it was decreed that the young warrior should 
receive due reward for services already rendered. On Janu- 
ary 7th, 1744, the church of the Augustines was once 
more crowded with the witnesses of an impressive ceremony. 
A gushing spectator records that " the Queen and her sister 
in their robes of state had the appearances of goddesses in 
the likeness of women." The occasion was the marriage 
of the younger divinity to Charles of Lorraine. 

Brief but very pleasing are the allusions of contem- 
poraries to the second daughter of Charles VI. A year 
younger than Maria Theresa, she was brought up under 
the selfsame influences. The sisters naturally had much 
in common besides their love for one another. They were, 
however, essentially different in character. In her gentle- 
ness and adaptability Marianne was more like her mother 
than the combative Habsburgs. In appearance she also 
resembled the Brunswick side of the Imperial family, but 
she lacked Maria Theresa's imposing stature. Her robust 
health from infancy onwards goes far to account for the 
placidity of temper which provoked comparison with the 
fieriness of the elder princess. " She is all meekness and 
mildness," says Robinson, of the youthful Marianne. " She 
will make a good sister." The forecast was amply verified. 



144 MARIA THERESA 

In circumstances that might have excited jealousy in a 
less noble nature, the young Archduchess was content to 
take her stand in the political background. Thus the bond 
of sisterly affection was kept unbroken. On the friendship 
of her earliest companion Maria Theresa was indeed more 
dependent than ever after her accession. A certain amount 
of circumspection had to be observed in her intercourse 
with her mother. In her sister she could confide without 
reserve. 

Charles VI's final intentions with regard to his younger 
daughter were in harmony with her own wishes. But to 
the Empress Elizabeth the landless condition of Prince 
Charles seemed an insuperable barrier to his marriage with 
a Habsburg archduchess. Matters assumed a different foot- 
ing when the Queen of Hungary secured a revenue for 
her brother-in-law by appointing him Governor of the Aus- 
trian Netherlands. Military success was another asset in 
his favour, so also was Maria Theresa's promise to make 
her sister co -Regent of the Netherlands, thus ensuring her 
position in the event of widowhood. . 

At the date of his marriage Charles of Lorraine was a 
man of thirty-three. He had outstripped his brother in 
height, but resembled him in feature— though with obvious 
traces of smallpox. His popularity was not confined to 
Austria. In the Gentleman's Magazine for June, 1742, 
we read that " Prince Charles is extremely commended 
for courage and conduct, and makes up a little for other 
flaws in the family " — a somewhat mordant reference to the 
ineffectual generalship of Francis. Had it not been for 
his too early and easy advancement to the highest rank in 
the army, Charles might have attained not only occasional 
success, but enduring fame. He was not without qualifi- 
cations for a military career, but he suffered from the 
drawback of being set to command before he had learned 
to serve. Though he was popular with his subordinates 
he had no power of imposing his will upon them, and 
nothing would induce him to give place to another leader. 
When the Battle of Dettingen cleared the way for a com- 
bination of the Pragmatic and Austrian armies, it was Prince 
Charles' jealous refusal to yield any priority to George IT 
that prevented the victory from' being effectively followed up. 




MARIA THERESA 

FROM THE PRINT ON SALE IN LONDON DURING THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION 



THE TABLES TURNED ON THE FRENCH 145 

For six weeks after their wedding Prince and Princess 
Charles remained in Vienna. The happy marriage and 
the successful campaign were celebrated by a whole series 
of festive events. There was the Carrousel, a sort of 
pageant in which the Queen and her sister took part. It 
afforded opportunity for the display of skilled horsemanship, 
and was held in the great riding-school adjoining the 
Palace. There were Wirthschaften, or masked balls, when 
Francis and Maria Theresa played the part of an innkeeper 
and his wife, and entertained their guests with less for- 
mality than would otherwise have been permissible. There 
were musical performances, both public and private. Her 
Majesty's invited guests were mainly Court functionaries 
and representatives of the ministerial and diplomatic circles. 
But at this time she began to hold receptions on two or 
three evenings in the week when men and women of ac- 
knowledged social position, whether her own subjects or 
foreigners, could be presented to her. " The old Hofburg 
seemed to take on a new lease of life," and Maria Theresa 
had never been more radiantly happy. When the burden of 
State did not press too heavily, it was evident that she 
could extract the fullest measure of enjoyment from the 
passing moment. Count Silva-Tarouca had paroxysms of 
anxiety lest his hitherto docile pupil should waste overmuch 
time in frivolous amusement. He sent her a solemn re- 
minder of the duties and responsibilities of monarchy. It 
was returned to him with the delightful marginal comment, 
"Tell me all this again at the beginning of Lent." 

There was indeed no cause to fear that the joyous mood 
would be unduly prolonged. The parting between Maria 
Theresa and her much-loved companion was at hand. To 
Marianne it must have seemed as if she were going into 
exile. Her husband could do little more than see her 
established in Brussels before he rejoined the army. The 
members of the new household had been carefully selected 
by the Queen with the view of securing for her sister the 
largest measure of happiness and freedom from responsi- 
bility. As political adviser to the inexperienced Governess 
of the Netherlands, Maria Theresa nominated Count Wenzel 
Kaunitz, and she adhered to her decision in spite of protests 
from the ambitious Count himself and from her own advisers, 



146 MARIA THERESA 

who deplored the sacrifice she made in depriving her cause 
of an able representative at Turin. 

Kaunitz, together with Silva-Tarouca, Khevenhuller and 
other eminent servants of the State, had recently been in- 
vested with the Order of the Golden Fleece. For Kheven- 
huller, who had been the first to stem the tide of alien 
invasion, Maria Theresa had a peculiar regard. He was 
taking a leading part in formulating the plan of the next 
campaign, when the news of his sudden, serious illness 
threw a gloom over the city which his victories had pre- 
served from the attack of the enemy. No one was more 
distressed than the Queen. She hastened to visit her de- 
voted general and bring him the consolation of her sympathy 
and gratitude. Simple and natural as such a step appears 
at the present day, it was one which none of her immediate 
predecessors would have dreamed of taking, and illustrates 
the more rational relationship between sovereign and subject 
inaugurated by Maria Theresa in the Habsburg monarchy. 
To Khevenhuller she had given a last token of royal favour. 
He died on January ,26th, 1744. 

Thus, on the eve of a fresh campaign, Maria Theresa 
found herself faced with the difficult problem of appointing 
a new chief of the staff for the Austrian army. A war 
could not last three years without some revelation of superior 
military, talent. But unless allied to noble birth outstanding 
merit was of little avail. Despite their sullied records the 
names of Wallis and Lobkowitz were submitted to the 
Queen. She wisely set them aside and recalled Traun from 
Italy. To him she confided the office which had been so 
honourably held by Khevenhuller, of commander of the 
forces in Austria. In the impending campaign he was to be 
nominally under Prince Charles. Actually Traun had the 
more responsible position. 




CHAPTER XIII 

THE SUCCESS OF MARIA THERESA'S ARMY IN THE 
CAMPAIGN OF 1744— THE DEATH OF PRINCESS 
CHARLES OF LORRAINE 

ETWEEN the first and second parts of the drama, 
entitled by Carlyle " The Sorcerer's Sabbath of a 
European War," there is an interval of about eight 
months. When in May, 1744, the curtain rose on a new 
scene of strife, the grouping of the combatants had to some 
extent been anticipated. On the one side was Maria Theresa 
and the other signatories of the Treaty of Worms ; on the 
other Louis XV and Philip V of Spain, united by a new 
family compact. France, having thrown off all pretence of 
neutrality, proceeded to attack Austria in the Netherlands 
and to hamper Austria's chief ally by efforts to bring 
about the restoration of the Stuarts to the British throne. 
Meanwhile, almost unobserved, the main body of the Aus- 
trian army had been marching westward under Charles of 
Lorraine and Traun. Suddenly the French conquest of the 
Low Countries was arrested by disconcerting news. The 
Austrians had crossed the Rhine and were occupying 
Alsace. 

There was an immediate division of the forces com- 
manded by Louis XV in person. The majority turned south- 
ward to intercept the invaders. They were delayed by a 
dangerous illness of the King, but put to no serious loss. 
Before they came in touch with the Austrians the latter had 
abandoned their advantageous position and were recrossing 
the Rhine. 

" The credit for having ruined the best chance the 
eighteenth century was to see of reuniting Alsace to the 
Empire, is due to Frederick II." 1 He was alarmed at the 

1 A History of Germany, 1715-1815, p. 148. 
147 



148 MARIA THERESA 

first indication that the spoils of the campaign might fall 
to Maria Theresa. With Alsace and perchance Lorraine in 
her grasp, it would be difficult to prevent her proposed 
annexation of Bavaria, and inconvenient increase of power 
in Germany. Casting about for the means of putting, a 
spoke in her wheel, Frederick perceived the dejected figure 
of the Emperor hovering about the stage. When inter- 
rogated, Charles VII professed himself willing to guarantee 
not only the past but the future conquests of Prussia, 
provided he were helped to recover his electorate, and 
left in undisputed possession of the Imperial throne. 

Thereupon a bargain was struck, and an unexpected turn 
given to the development of the drama. The Emperor dis- 
regarded 1 the Convention with Austria and began to rally 
his Bavarian troops and French auxiliaries. Frederick, 
at the head of eighty thousand men, invaded Bohemia and 
laid siege to Prague. Maria Theresa decided that it was 
hopeless to pursue other aims till some crushing defeat had 
been inflicted on her unprincipled neighbour. Hence the 
mandate which recalled Prince Charles and Traun from 
the further side of the Rhine. Before the first column 
of the relieving army could reach Bohemia, Prague, weakly 
garrisoned as heretofore, had surrendered to the enemy. 
Then Frederick pushed on in a south-westerly direction, 
in order to catch the Austrians between his own army and 
the Franco -Bavarian host which was expected to follow in 
their rear. 

But winter was at hand, and the French, mindful of their 
former sufferings among the Bavarian mountains, hesitated 
to cross the frontier. The Bavarians on their part could 
not resist the opportunity of dislodging the Austrian op- 
pressors of their country. Though unsupported, Frederick 
still hoped to score a victory over his opponents. But the 
wily Traun persuaded Prince Charles to avoid a pitched 
battle and engage in the series of manoeuvres which severed 
Frederick's connection with his base at Prague. For a 
time he secured supplies by foraging. But Maria Theresa 
betook herself to Pressburg and, in response to her second 
appeal to the Hungarians, troops of their light horsemen 
came flocking into Bohemia and fell upon the Prussian 
foragers and outposts. Frederick, completely frustrated, 



THE SUCCESS OF MARIA THERESA'S ARMY 149 

beat a hasty retreat into Silesia with the enemy in full 
pursuit. From further disaster he was saved by the timely 
intervention of General December. The severity of the 
weather forced Traun to fall back into winter quarters in 
Bohemia. 

To Maria Theresa it was not given to taste the full 
sweetness of success. With relief and thankfulness she 
heard of the discomfiture of Frederick. But distressing 
news from Brussels excluded all thought of rejoicing. In 
the summer months the city had been an insecure place 
of residence for a Habsburg princess, but the new Governess 
of the Netherlands stuck bravely to her post. How lonely 
it was no one knew better than her elder sister. The 
arrangements for the departure of Kaunitz were hurried 
on. With heartfelt pleasure Maria Theresa penned the letter 
which he was to deliver to Princess Charles in person. 
"Here is Kaunitz," it begins; "I grudge parting with 
him, but I am persuaded that he is worthy of your con- 
fidence, and that he will do his utmost for you. If you 
are satisfied, keep him with you. If not, I can always 
find another post for him." 

With Kaunitz at Brussels, the Queen had some assurance 
that her sister would neither be exposed to danger nor 
fall into any grave political error. The one remaining 
cause for uneasiness was the possibility of any mishap 
at the young Regent's approaching confinement. 

Both sisters were good correspondents, and they made 
the most of the only means of bridging the distance be- 
tween them. One or two of Maria Theresa's letters have 
escaped destruction. How human they are, and how in- 
compatible with the conception of the writer as a cold- 
blooded politician who made little account of family ties ! 
Public events are relegated to the background when the 
prospective aunt seeks to encourage and counsel the pro- 
spective mother. If the tendency to lay down the law even 
in domestic affairs is characteristic of Maria Theresa, 
equally so is the vein of tenderness running through her 
letters and the frequent expressions of passionate devo- 
tion. 

When the anxiously expected messenger reached Vienna 
he was the bearer of sorrowful tidings. The infant was 



150 MARIA THERESA 

stillborn. There was expectation of the mother's recovery 
when the dispatch was written, but she had been so nearly 
beyond help as to justify the administration of the last 
Sacraments. 

The Lord Chamberlain describes the general consterna- 
tion at the Austrian Court when the painful news became 
known. " The Queen," he says, " does nothing but weep. 
The Grand Duke can do little to comfort her, he is so, 
grieved himself." 

The ensuing weeks brought varying reports. Not till 
October 20th, the anniversary of the Queen's accession, was 
there intimation of decided improvement. Next morning 
Maria Theresa assures her sister that " no 20th of October 
ever brought so much pleasure and satisfaction as yester- 
day. The favourable report put us on a very pinnacle of 
happiness. But what a 19th went before it! How I lived 
through that day I hardly know. Now let us put aside 
all sorrowful reflections, and think only of your restoration 
to health." 

For about a fortnight the hope of recovery was continued. 
Then came a return of alarming symptoms. Maria Theresa, 
in despair, sent Engel, the Court physician, to Brussels. 
Meanwhile Kaunitz, with the assurance of Her Majesty's 
approval, had summoned from Leyden the man who was 
destined to supersede Engel — Gerard van Swieten, the most 
famous pupil of the famous Boerhaave. 

Had he been in charge of the Archduchess from the 
first, the course of events might have been different. By 
the time he reached Brussels her illness had assumed a very 
complicated for'm. Van Swieten expressed hope of re- 
covery, and commended the measures that had been em- 
ployed by the responsible doctors. Ground for hope there 
must have been, for the patient lived a month longer. 
But it is not necessarily a good sign when an eminent 
consultant suggests no radical change of treatment. That 
he contrived some alleviation of suffering is evident from 
Maria Theresa's expressions of gratitude. Engel and his 
confreres were furiously jealous, and did their utmost to 
vilify the man whom they regarded as an interloper. But 
he had the confidence of the Queen and Kaunitz, and no 
morbid dread of being in a minority. Maria Theresa had 



THE SUCCESS OF MARIA THERESA'S ARMY 151 

been in correspondence with! him before his summons to 
Brussels. The origin of her appreciation of Van Swieten, 
and decision to invite him to Vienna, has been a subject 
of muchi needless conjecture. It would have been an ex- 
traordinary thing if she had not known all about him. 
During the first years of her married life her physician 
was Bassand, who was a pupil of Boerhaave's, and doubtless 
a fellow-student of Van Swieten's. The latter must have 
been known by repute to Kaunitz, who was also a graduate 
of Leyden. B,ut before beginning his medical course Van 
Swieten had studied jurisprudence at Louvain, in the Aus- 
trian Netherlands. Hence the interest in his career mani- 
fested by Count Silva-Tarouca. It is significant that 
when the Dutch physician came to Brussels, Kaunitz should 
have felt it incumbent upota him to report conviction of 
his skill not only to Maria Theresa, but to her preceptor. 
Not the least of Tarouca's qualifications for his unique 
position was his power of focussing his pupil's attention on 
this or that man of parts who might otherwise have been 
overlooked. Van Swieten's steadfast adherence to the 
Catholic faith of his fathers, though it excluded him from 
the honours of his profession in Holland, was naturally a 
recommendation to the favour of Maria Theresa. 

He was still at Brussels when he intimated his accept- 
ance of the royal invitation to Vienna. In her reply, 
dated November 29th 1 , 1744, Maria Theresa says: "I am 
infinitely obliged to you for your care of my sister and 
the promptitude with which you betook yourself to Brussels. 
I love my only sister with a tenderness fully merited by 
her' personal charm and nobility of character. You can 
therefore judge of my gratitude. I will not write anything 
more about our other arrangements, as I have referred you 
to my private secretary. He will tell you all you would 
like to know. I will merely state that the decision you have 
come to is a great satisfaction to me." 

As the winter days passed on, Maria Theresa followed 
from afar the movements of the army which almost suc- 
ceeded in cornering the redoubtable King of Prussia. At 
that critical juncture Prince Charles could not forsake his 
post, though his wife's protracted illness was giving rise to 
alarm. When winter brought a temporary cessation of hos- 



152 MARIA THERESA 

tilities, he at onoe set out for Vienna. There, on the morn- 
ing of December 27th, the Queen had striven to dismiss 
her sad forebodings and join fervently, in the public thanks- 
giving for, the prosperous campaign. A few hours later 
all thoughts of triumph were forgotten in the sense of 
heart-breaking loss. From Brussels had come the announce- 
ment of the death of the Regent on December 1 7th. 

It was a desolate group that assembled at the Hofburg on 
the last evening of the year 1744. Prince Charles had been 
made aware of his bereavement in the course of his journey 
south. To the thoughtful suggestion that his arrival in 
Vienna should be delayed till nightfall he willingly acceded. 
His sister-in-law also ordered a fresh suite of rooms to be 
prepared for him. The familiar apartments would, she 
felt, emphasize the contrast between the present and the 
past New Year. Her husband had a second sad communi- 
cation to make to Prince Charles. The previous day had 
brought intelligence of the decease of their mother, the 
Dowager Duchess of Lorraine. 

Early in January, 1745, Maria Theresa writes to Van 
Swieten, " God could have permitted no more terrible trial 
to befall me than the death of my sister. Every day 
increases my love for the members of my family. Time, 
they say, heals griefs of this kind. Time will only make 
me feel more keenly the greatness of my loss. Though it 
is the ninth month I have not suffered physically from the 
shock. I believe that God has purposes to fulfil through 
me. By His great grace I shall be upheld on the path He 
wills me to tread — a path of disappointment, sorrow, and 
weeping. I submit to what He has ordained and look for 
no reward in this life. Amidst the trials of my reign no 
thought was so sweetly consoling as that of the continuance 
of the dynasty in a double line. I pictured the two families 
mutually helpful, mutually conducive to the welfare of the 
monarchy. I dreamed that the fulfilment of these innocent 
aspirations would be the comfort of my declining years. 
But God has determined otherwise. To Him let me offer 
in sacrifice all that I ever craved for myself. ... I must 
not dwell on this subject, but it was fitting that I should 
assure you of my lively sense of gratitude for services 
rendered to my sister. I also appreciate the patience with 



THE SUCCESS OF MARIA THERESA'S ARMY 153 

which you have endured the caprices of Engel. His con- 
duct is simply injuring himself, while yours has inspired 
me with so much regard for your personal character that 
l have already given you more of my confidence and friend- 
ship than I would have bestowed solely out of consideration 
tor your official position." 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE DEATH OF " THE BOLD BAVARIAN "—FRED- 
ERICK'S VICTORIES AT HOHENFRIEDBERG AND 
SOHR— THE ELECTION OF FRANCIS OF LOR- 
RAINE AND HIS CORONATION AS EMPEROR 
AT FRANKFORT 



THE birth of Maria Theresa's second son, Charles, 
had no political significance, save that it provided 
an heir-apparent for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. 
It excited little comment even in Vienna. The death of 
another Charles, the much-tried Emperor, was the all-ab- 
sorbing topic of discussion in the early weeks of 1745. 1 
During his four years' reign he had not known a single 
day of health or peace. An eye-witness 2 of his coronation 
at Frankfort remarked that the poor Kaiser could not enjoy 
it much. He was dying of gout and gravel and could 
scarcely stand on his feet. Horace Walpole proposed to 
call him " the new John Lackland." But the publication of 
Dr. Johnson's Vanity of Human Wishes decided that " the 
Bold Bavarian " should be the accepted English description 
of the misguided ruler. The poem tells how 

" The bold Bavarian, in a luckless hour, 
Tries the dread summits of Caesarean power, 
With unexpected legions bursts away, 
And sees defenceless realms receive his sway : 
Short sway ! Fair Austria spreads her mournful charms. 
The Queen, the Beauty, sets the world in arms ; 
From hill to hill the beacon's rousing blaze 
Spreads wide the hope of plunder and of praise ; 

1 Charles VII died at Munich on January 20th. 

2 Wilhelmina, Margravine of Baireuth, eldest sister of Frederick the Great. 

»S4 




CHARLES VII 



THE DEATH OF "THE BOLD BAVARIAN" 155 

The fierce Croatian and the wild Hussar, 

With all the sons of ravage, crowd the war ; 

The baffled prince, in Honour's flattering bloom 

Of hasty greatness finds the fatal doom, 

His foes' derision, and his subjects' blame, 

And steals to death from anguish and from shame." 

This melancholy exit reopened the question of succession 
to the Empire. On Maria Theresa the call for special 
exertion had the usual bracing effect. One cherished dream 
had to be sorrowfully abandoned, but here was an un- 
expected possibility of realizing another. There was no 
question that the opposition to Francis of Lorraine would 
be renewed. Some were of opinion that the Queen should 
rather seek the election of her son Joseph. She, however, 
would hear of no candidate but her husband. If she could 
but ensure his succession she would even consent to sacri- 
fice her ambition with regard to Bavaria and come to terms 
with Maximilian, the son of Charles VII. He was there- 
fore given to understand that Austria set value on his 
electoral vote. France, naturally antagonistic to the re- 
union of Austria and the Empire, endeavoured to bespeak 
the same vote for a rival to Francis, conceivably Maxi- 
milian himself. With diplomatists whispering at each ear 
the young Elector hesitated. Thereupon Maria Theresa de- 
termined to furnish him with conclusive proof of the folly 
of dependence on a distant ally. With a promptitude 
worthy of her arch-enemy she ordered that a division of the 
army quartered in Bohemia should be sent against the 
Bavarians. The feeble Electoral force was speedily over- 
borne, Maximilian fled to Augsburg, and for the third time 
the miserable country was devastated by " all the sons of 
ravage." 

Then negotiations between the Queen and the Elector 
were resumed. Almost with his last breath Charles VII had 
besought his son to put forward no claim to the Imperial 
Crown. Experience had proved the wisdom of the advice. 
In return for reinstatement in his ancestral dominions Maxi- 
milian undertook to vote for Francis of Lorraine, to 
guarantee the Pragmatic Sanction, and to maintain a strict 
neutrality till the war was over. 

This was a distinct triumph for Maria Theresa. The 



156 MARIA THERESA 

Bavarian vote almost implied that of the Elector of Cologne, 
who was a brother of the deceased Emperor. If no risk to 
Hanover were involved she might rely on the support of 
George II. Other Electors could doubtless be won over. 
Augustus of Poland and Saxony had even more assurance 
than Maximilian of the support of France and Prussia. 
But he was too wary to contest the Empire at their sole 
instigation. The star of the Queen of Hungary was ob- 
viously in the ascendant. Augustus therefore decided to 
abide by a recent agreement to assist her reconquest of 
Silesia. Russia was also coming forward on her behalf. 
Maria Theresa's latest plan was to carry the war into Fred- 
erick's hereditary provinces and find there the wherewithal 
to reward her supporters. 

To Frederick himself the outlook had never seemed more 
ominous. Spain could not assist him, and France, his 
only .other ally, was intent on seizing the Netherlands. 
Here, in May, 1745, Marshal Saxe avenged the defeat of 
Dettingen by the victory of Fontenoy. Had it not been 
for the impending election the Austrian soldiers, no longer 
required in Bavaria, might have been profitably utilized 
in Belgium. France, however, had assembled a force on 
the right bank of the Rhine with the evident intention of 
coercing the Diet at Frankfort. As Bartenstein bluntly 
expressed it, it would be all up with the expectations of 
the Grand Duke, if Austrian troops were not deputed to 
cover the approaches to the Imperial city. To the Rhine 
accordingly they were sent. 

Francis was in nominal command, but the responsible 
strategist was Marshal Traun. 

Thus, at the very time when Prince Charles was most 
in need of counsel, he was deprived of his long-headed 
coadjutor. Frederick, rendered desperate by the advance 
of the Russians, gathered together his forces and defeated 
both Austrians and Saxons at Hohenfriedberg in Silesia 
(June, 1745)- 

Mindful of his fast emptying war-chest the victor was 
not unduly elated. He intimated to George II that if 
Maria Theresa would renew the Treaty of Breslau, he was 
prepared to vote for her husband and definitely to abandon 
the French alliance. George was very willing to resume 



THE DEATH OF "THE BOLD BAVARIAN" 157 

the part of mediator. His British subjects were weary 
of the demand for subsidies which did nothing to reduce 
the power of France. Sir Thomas Robinson was charged 
to broach the subject at Vienna. In his audience with 
the Queen he stated that in the course of the past year 
Great Britain had advanced over a million of money for 
the maintenance of the House of Austria. In return for 
this practical demonstration of friendship the English nation 
expected that, as France could not be detached from Prussia, 
Prussia should be detached from France. Thereafter a 
certain proportion of the 70,000 soldiers engaged against 
King Frederick might be employed in dislodging the French 
who were not only threatening the Netherlands but the very 
existence of the Maritime Powers in whose fall the House 
of Austria would be involved. 1 

The Queen listened to this harangue " with more than 
ordinary patience and complacency, and said, ' Nothing 
can equal my gratitude to the King and the English nation, 
and I will show it by every means in my power. But I 
cannot spare a man out of the King of Prussia's neighbour- 
hood. . . .' She expressed her eagerness for another blow 
with him. ' Were I,' she exclaimed, ' to agree with him 
to-morrow, I would give him battle this evening! But why 
this interruption to operations by no means to be despaired 
of? . . . The Grand Duke is not so much ambitious as 
you imagine of an empty honour, much less to enjoy it 
under the tutelage of the King of Prussia; but I shall write 
to know his sentiments fully. The Imperial Dignity ! is 
it compatible with the fatal deprivation of Silesia? Good 
God! give me only to the month of October; I shall then, 
at least, have better conditions." 2 

George II was a good deal embarrassed by the futility 
of the negotiations which he had been directing from Han- 
over. Apart from Austria he did not want to contract any 
definite agreement with an opposing Power. But the 
Jacobite risings obliged him to hasten back to England; 
and rather than jeopardize his electorate he concluded with 
Prussia the Convention of Hanover (August 26th, 1745). By 
this compact the dominions of the contracting parties were 

1 Coxe, House of Austria, Vol. Ill, p. 319. 

2 Robinson to Lord Harring-ton. 



158 MARIA THERESA 

mutually guaranteed, Silesia being included amongst those 
of Prussia. All opposition on the part of Frederick to the 
election of the Grand Duke was withdrawn and an armistice 
of six weeks was allowed for the adhesion of Maria Theresa 
to the treaty. 

" The news of this arrangement was received at Vienna 
with the greatest indignation. It appeared to the Queen an 
attempt to force upon her against her will the very terms 
she had scornfully rejected. She ordered her generals to 
pay no attention to the armistice. In expectation of peace 
Frederick had kept his army unemployed in Bohemia while 
his enemies were gathering round him." 1 He had again 
to fall back into Silesia, closely followed by the Austrian 
army. But by the River Sohr, the King turned on his 
pursuers and gained another decisive victory (Sept. 20th, 

1745)- 

The unwelcome news threw a shadow over Maria 

Theresa's enjoyment of gay doings at Frankfort. Though 

baulked of the foothold in Silesia, which she had hoped to 

gain before October, she had achieved the object almost 

equally near her heart. On September 13th her husband 

was elected King of the Romans, the preliminary to his 

installation as Emperor under the title of Francis I. It was 

a further gratification to Her Majesty that the validity of 

her Bohemian vote had been acknowledged. The Grand 

Duke had been chosen by all the Electors save those of 

Brandenburg and the Palatinate, who abstained from voting. 

The coronation was fixed for St. Francis' Day — October 4th. 

From the time when the French, outmanoeuvred by Traun, 

returned to their own side of the Rhine the result of the 

election was a foregone conclusion. Throughout the month 

of August, Francis and his consort were engaged in a 

lively correspondence with regard to their respective parts 

in the coronation ceremonial. Germany had taken for 

granted that one of the features of the occasion would be 

an opportunity of beholding the woman whose personal 

charm, heroic courage, and dogged determination had made 

her name familiar as household words in most European 

countries. Her ministers had vague ideas as to how the 

1 Bright, Maria Theresa, p. 39. 



THE DEATH OF "THE BOLD BAVARIAN" 159 

enormous expense of her journey could be met. But in 
the first place there was little chance of dissuading Her 
Majesty from her very natural intention of witnessing the 
ceremonial which had more significance for her than for 
any one else; in the second, her non-appearance might 
offend the susceptibilities of her German supporters. When, 
however, Francis informed his wife that her own corona- 
tion as Imperial consort was regarded as certain she flatly 
refused to entertain the idea. Rather than be crowned she 
would deny herself the pleasure of going to Frankfort. 
Francis, in dismay, invoked the assistance of Count Ulfeld, 
the Chancellor of Foreign Affairs. " The Queen," says 
her husband, " has given me to understand that she does 
not intend to be crowned at Frankfort. I leave you to 
judge of the effect which this will produce. But I fear 
that rather than give way she will not come at all, which 
would be extremely unfortunate. For the occasion would 
afford her opportunities of meeting many of the Princes of 
the Empire, and she would know so well how to overcome 
their prejudices and win their goodwill. Speak to her on 
the subject, and persuade her that there is nothing in the 
ceremony incompatible with her kingly dignity." 

" I have done my best," writes Ulfeld in reply, " but 
Your Royal Highness knows that when Her Majesty has 
once made up her mind there is nothing to be gained by 
persuasion. I could get no answer except that she refused 
to be crowned. Moreover, she said if she had cause to 
believe her presence in Frankfort would give rise to any 
attempt to surprise her into submission to the ceremony, she 
would immediately resolve to keep away. In vain did I 
try to find out the reason of her decision. So far as I can 
guess, though my guessing may be wrong, she feels that, 
having been twice crowned as King, there would be some- 
thing derogatory in being crowned as consort. In fact, 
she said one day, that in the matter of coronations she 
would keep to the sex that had been assigned to her. I 
represented to Her Majesty that if it was past hope that 
she should change her mind, at least it would be wise not 
to proclaim her intention. The necessary paraphernalia 
could be sent on to Frankfort, and she could excuse herself 
at the last on account of her condition of health." 



160 MARIA THERESA 

It was not an excuse which would have occurred to 
Maria Theresa herself. She had been crowned at Prague 
three months before the arrival of a former baby. 
But if a pretext were needed it might serve the purpose. 
So when Francis continued to expatiate on the anticipation 
of a dual ceremony at Frankfort, his consort replied, " I 
should feel it keenly if I did not go. But rather the dis- 
appointment than a coronation in my present condition." 
" All the same," says Francis, " you had better bring the 
regalia that was used at the crowning of the Empress 
Amelia, and arrange about a robe to be worn in the church." 
" The regalia will not be required," is the prompt response. 
" The robe will only be a source of inconvenience, and all; 
these things are rendered superfluous by my original deter- 
mination." 

Not till she was assured of exemption from further im- 
portunity did Maria Theresa set out on the journey, which 
occupied a whole fortnight. As she proceeded from Vienna 
to Passau, and thence to Ratisbon, Nuremberg, and Wiirz- 
burg, she was everywhere received with congratulatory 
speeches and demonstrations of enthusiasm. At Aschaffen- 
burg, on the Main, the jolting coach was exchanged for 
a yacht. The Queen had expected to find her husband 
awaiting her; but as he did not appear she set sail. Shortly 
afterwards Francis, who had been delayed on the way from 
Heidelberg, drew rein by the river-side. Informed of his 
consort's departure he chartered the first available boat 
and set off in pursuit. The heavier vessel was soon over- 
taken, and there were infinite pleasure and small formality 
in the first meeting of the Queen and her husband since his 
election as Emperor. In the evening they disembarked at 
Phillipsruhe, within easy distance of the Imperial city. 

Their journey's end was reached next morning (Sept. 
25th). Francis repaired to the tent erected for his recep- 
tion outside the walls of Frankfort. Maria Theresa entered 
the city without delay. There was no question of her 
welcome as she drove to the inn with the appropriate sign 
of the " Roman Emperor." From its balcony she watched 
the state entry of her husband, and joined heartily in the 
applause. 

Two days afterwards she made her way to Heidelberg, 



THE DEATH OF "THE BOLD BAVARIAN" 161 

the head-quarters of her army. " She was received by- 
Francis himself at the head of the troops ; passed between 
the lines, saluting each rank with her usual affability and 
dign,ity; dined in public under a tent;, and 1 , on her depar- 
ture, ordered a gratuity to be given to each soldier." 1 

On returning to the Imperial residence at Frankfort, 
Maria Theresa gave herself without reserve to the fulfil- 
ment of her political task. During the week before the 
coronation, princes, ambassadors, civil and ecclesiastical dig- 
nitaries were arriving every day. They had ready access 
to their Majesties, and few could resist the charm of the 
far-famed Queen of Hungary, or refuse to admit her plea 
that henceforward the cause of the Habsburgs should receive 
the hearty support of the Empire. 

Both the testimony of eye-witnesses and the tradition of 
after days are opposed to the description of Maria Theresa 
at Frankfort in Frederick the Great's Histoire de mon Temps. 
She would have defeated her own ends by " showing herself 
very high in her carriage toward the Princes of the Reich 
and *heir privileges." Erizzo, the Venetian Ambassador, 
had exceptional opportunities of observing all that took 
place at the time of the coronation. In his dispatches to 
his Government he comments on Her Majesty's success 
in propitiating the Princes, and reports their expressions 
of surprise and pleasure in meeting with a Habsburg who 
waived all needless ceremony and apologized, like an ordi- 
nary mortal, if the pressure of engagements made her late 
in beginning an audience. 

It was not to be expected that the Queen should show 
favour to the emissaries of the King of Prussia and the 
Elector Palatine. The latter had just added to his offences 
an attempt to seize the Imperial regalia when it was being 
conveyed from Aix to Frankfort. The former had charged 
a representative to hint to his opponent that, after her 
defeat at Sohr, she would do well to accept the victor's 
terms. Maria Theresa, however, merely scoffed at the sug- 
gestion, so there was no truce to hostilities. To Frederick 
this rebuff was peculiarly exasperating; for, in spite of 
his victories, he was sorely put to it to find the means of 
continuing the war. He had a long memory, and when he 

1 House of Austria, Vol. Ill, p. 322. 
II 



162 MARIA THERESA 

exchanged the sword for the pen it was no unbiased his- 
torian who dealt with the people and events of his own 
generation. 

There is certainly no foundation for Frederick's assertion 
that Maria Theresa strove to emphasize the fact that her 
husband's Imperial dignity was but a shoddy thing com- 
pared with her own hereditary sovereignty. The more 
trustworthy accounts of the sojourn at Frankfort indicate 
that the undivulged reason for her refusal to be crowned 
Empress was the desire to efface herself, and secure for 
her consort a position of undivided eminence. The clue 
to her motives is not the pretexts to which she resorted, but 
her opanly expressed resentment of slighting allusions to 
the political position of Francis. Every indication of 
general interest in her own appearance at Frankfort, con- 
firmed her determination to put it beyond dispute that the 
recipient of the homage of princes, and the centre of public 
enthusiasm, was the Emperor, and the Emperor alone. 

The ill-luck that so persistently dogged the footsteps of 
" the Bold Bavarian " apparently assured a dull day for his 
coronation. Otherwise there would be little point in the 
stress laid by an Austrian reporter on the brilliant sunshine 
of October 4th, 1745. The very heavens, we are told, 
smiled approval of the renewal of the tie between Austria 
and the Empire. 

As a matter of course the city was crowded to over- 
flowing, but there could be no influx of outsiders on the 
day of the coronation, any more than that of the election. 
On the preceding evening all strangers who could not prove 
connection with some distinguished visitor or respectable 
burgher were ruthlessly expelled from the town. It was 
also customary to close the ghetto. The morrow's spectacle 
was reserved for Christian folk, many of whom doubtless 
relished the thought that in the absence of their Semitic 
fellow-citizens they were less likely to be outdone in a 
scuffle for advantages. And scuffles would certainly ensue 
for portions of oxen roasted whole, and liquid refreshment 
from fountains where wine, white or red according to taste, 
flowed from the respective beaks of two-headed Imperial 
eagles. 

The auspicious morning found Maria Theresa installed 



THE DEATH OF "THE BOLD BAVARIAN" 163 

in the balcony of a window overlooking the Romer, or 
Imperial banqueting-hall, the point where the day's cele- 
brations began and ended. With unobstructed view she 
could observe, in the great square below, the assembling of 
exalted personages with small armies of retainers, of civil, 
military and ecclesiastical functionaries of the Empire with 
their attendant satellites, and of picked companies of sol- 
diers. At a given signal each horseman moved to his 
place in the procession, which was led by the Hereditary 
Marshal, the sunlight giving full effect to robes of state 
and resplendent uniforms. It was one of the most impres- 
sive of mediaeval pageants, and the special reporter frankly 
confesses his inability to portray it. " Let a man imagine," 
he says, " an innumerable succession of cavaliers, of whom 
the more prominent are more like gods than human beings. 
Let him call up every conception of magnificence and ma- 
jesty, of glory and beauty, of decorative effect and perfect 
order. Let him add the general pleasure, joy, enchantment; 
then he will have a picture, albeit an imperfect and lifeless 
one, of what was actually to be seen that day in Frankfort." 

The Emperor, still wearing his 'ducal mantle, rode an 
the middle of the procession. Maria Theresa had achieved 
her purpose. All eyes were turned on her husband. It was 
his hour of undisputed triumph. 

While the procession passed on to exhibit its splendour 
in the course of a circuitous route to the cathedral, the 
Queen reached the same destination by the nearest way.. 
Thus she was able to witness the arrival of Francis and! 
his attendant magnificoes. The ensuing ceremony was 
chiefly conducted by the ecclesiastical Elector of Mayence. 
When the time came to hail Francis as Emperor his wife 
was seen to pull off. her gloves that the clapping of her 
hands might be distinctly heard. 

After the coronation she hastened back to her balcony, 
and stood there " beautiful beyond measure as her consort 
returned from the cathedral on foot. In his old-time gar- 

Iments he seemed like an apparition of Charlemagne. As 
if in jest he raised both hands to show his wife the Imperial: 
orb, the sceptre, and the quaint gloves." The comic side 
of the proceedings struck Maria Theresa also, and her un- 
restrained laughter delighted the crowd " which was hon- 



i6 4 MARIA THERESA 

oured by beholding the good and natural understanding 
between the most exalted couple in Christendom. And 
when the Empress, to greet her husband, waved her hand- 
kerchief and gave utterance to a very audible vivat, the 
exultation of the people reached its highest pitch, and there 
was no end to the cheering. "! 

For nearly a fortnight longer the Emperor and his con- 
sort remained in Frankfort, confirming the good impression 
they had already made on the Princes and the populace. 
Then by way of Heidelberg, where they took leave of the 
army which had so effectually guarded their interests, they 
journeyed to Ulm. There they went on board the vessel 
which was to float them down the familiar Danube. Maxi- 
milian of Bavaria had been represented by a plenipoten- 
tiary at Frankfort, but he had an opportunity of meeting 
their Imperial Majesties as they sailed through his electo- 
rate. The result was a complete reconciliation between 
Maria Theresa and her young relative. Vienna was reached 
on October 27th, and the landing took place amidst scenes 
of extraordinary enthusiasm. 

1 Goethe, Aus meinem Leoen. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE END OF THE GREAT WAR 

ON the lips of her Viennese subjects Maria Theresa's 
new title of Empress-Queen acquired its fullest 
significance. She had begun her reign with the 
praiseworthy aspiration that, within the realm, no grievance 
should be directly attributable to the substitution of female 
for male sovereignty. But it had surpassed her skill to 
prevent either Vienna's loss of the position of Imperial 
capital, or the vexatious connection of that circumstance 
with her own accession. Now, when her exertions had 
made the proud city once more the seat of empire, she 
had her reward in the unalloyed satisfaction with which 
she could respond to expressions of metropolitan good- 
will. Her return from Frankfort was more of a home- 
coming than she had ever hitherto known. 

With the restoration of civic prestige the unreflecting 
element in the population looked for a revival of civic 
prosperity. There was some waning of enthusiasm when 
it transpired that the time had not yet come for any lighten- 
ing of municipal burdens; rather would they be increased 
for the due maintenance of Imperial dignity. Struggling 
bread-winners within the city were presently noting the 
signs of approaching winter with the same sinking of heart 
as the half-starved multitudes beyond the walls. So long 
as the able-bodied men were systematically drafted into 
one or other of the armies there could be no adequate 
tillage of the soil. The goodliest ingathering of those 
bleak years was the harvest reaped by Death. 

Peace seemed as far off as ever in the autumn of 1745. 
George II threatened a withdrawal of British subsidies if the 
Empress persisted in holding aloof from the Convention 
of Hanover. She, however, replied that the tightening of 

165 






166 MARIA THERESA 

English purse-strings would not affect her determination 
to continue the struggle with Prussia. Preparations for 
a winter campaign were pushed forward. Hitherto Fred- 
erick had always struck the first blow and determined the 
strategy of both armies. This time Maria Theresa was 
resolved that Austria, in alliance with Russia and Saxony, 
should take the initiative. The plan agreed upon was 
designed to keep the main Prussian army bottled up in 
Silesia, while a vigorous attack was made on Frederick's 
hereditary dominions. 

It was unfortunate in the extreme that the Empress 
could not herself give effect to her great ideas. She was 
courting disaster when she suffered her brother-in-law to 
retain the office of Commander-in-Chief. A charitable 
historian pleads that Prince Charles was " too sorely afflicted 
by the death of his wife to be able to pay full attention 
to the affairs of the field." In that case he ought to have 
kept in the background. At the best he was but a second- 
rate general. Pitted against a military genius like Fred- 
erick, he had not a ghost of a chance. 

As in former campaigns, his intentions were fathomed 
and frustrated by the enemy. While the Empress-Queen 
and Augustus of Saxony-Poland were dreaming of a trium- 
phant march to Berlin, Frederick broke out of Silesia and 
invaded Saxony. The victory of his able lieutenant, Leo- 
pold of Anhalt-Dessau, at Kesselsdorf was followed by the 
Prussian occupation of Dresden. The King-Elector fled 
to Prague. From thence he signified his readiness to 
purchase the evacuation of Saxony by acceptance of the 
Convention of Hanover. In the circumstances Maria Theresa 
could no longer refuse her own assent to that hated com- 
pact. And this guarantee of Silesia to Frederick was con- 
firmed by the formal Treaty of Dresden between Austria 
and Prussia (Dec. 25th', 1745). Glatz was likewise ceded 
to the victorious King. He, in return, acknowledged Francis 
as Emperor, and guaranteed Maria Theresa in her posses- 
sions in Germany. 

The Second Silesian War was at an end, but the ancillary 
wars were waged as hotly as ever. British, Austrians, 
Dutch, and Sardinians (or rather Piedmontese) contended 
with the Bourbons of France and Spain in Italy, the Nether- 



THE END OF THE GREAT WAR 167 

lands, India, and the high seas. After the Peace of Dresden 
the army of the Empress-Queen in Italy was rapidly aug- 
mented. Prince Wenzel Liechtenstein proved a capable 
commander, and he was ably seconded by the Irish general, 
Browne. The Austrians and Sardinians had little difficulty 
in clearing the peninsula of French and Spanish troops. 
So absorbed was Maria Theresa with the thought of re- 
couping herself for the loss of Silesia by the seizure and 
annexation of Naples that she neglected the urgent demands 
of the Sea Powers for further help against France in the 
Netherlands. She had, indeed, sent a small force thither, 
but the faulty leadership of Prince Charles involved it in 
a series of reverses. She had taken for granted that, after 
the extinction of Jacobite hopes at Culloden, the British 
would rally to the defence of the Low Countries. They had, 
however, become involved in a tremendous struggle for 
superiority to France at sea and in India and Canada. 
With the Netherlands in her grasp, France was proceeding 
to the conquest of Holland. That country could only be 
saved by peace, and by 1748 "the fluctuating character 
of the war and the widespread and meaningless injury 
which it caused, gave rise to a general desire to bring it 
to a conclusion." 

The issues had become so confused that, for the most 
part, the inhabitants of the countries involved had no idea 
why their rulers were still fighting. The enthusiasm with 
which England had taken up the cudgels for Maria Theresa 
had faded out of mind. There was no one who was not 
sick of hearing of the war. News of victory and news of 
defeat were received with the same stolid indifference. 
" I remember," writes Horace Walpole, " when the account 
came of the conquest of Cape Breton, I was stopped in my 
chariot and told of it. I thought the person said, ' Great 
Britain is taken.' ' Oh,' said I, ' I am not at all surprised 
at that; drive on, coachman! ' " 

Maria Theresa was fully alive to her own country's need 
of peace, but held that the spring of 1748 was no fit/ 
time for the laying down of arms. Her resentment of the 
Convention of Hanover was nothing to her indignation at 
the proposal of a European peace, which would ratify Fred- 
erick's acquisition of Silesia before she had secured an 



168 MARIA THERESA 

equivalent in Southern Italy. She could, however, do 
nothing to retard the action of the principal combatants, 
who intimated, one after another, that they had no further 
interest in continuing the war. British public opinion was 
satisfied by the victories of Anson and Hawke, which had 
destroyed the French Navy. Holland was at her last gasp. 
France was almost at the end of her resources, bereft of 
her ships, and with commerce reduced to stagnation from 
the British blockade of the ports. The warlike policy of 
Elizabeth Farnese was less popular in Spain since the ac- 
cession of her stepson, Ferdinand VI. 

More fatal still to the designs of Maria Theresa was 
the fact that a European settlement was not without at- 
traction to the King of Sardinia. Frederick's determination 
that the Habsburgs should not become too strong in Ger- 
many was equalled by Charles Emanuel's determination 
that they should obtain no overmastering hold on Italy. 
His Sardinian Majesty soon fell into line with the other 
advocates of peace. Deserted by all her allies, the Empress 
was forced to renounce one of the fairest prospects of 
conquest which had ever opened before her. 

She would have been more than mortal if she had not 
chafed against her position of helpless isolation, but she 
could not prevent the assembling of the Congress to decide 
the terms of peace. Kaunitz was therefore deputed to 
represent her at Aix-la-Chapelle, and earned her eternal 
gratitude by the vigour with which' he opposed, stage by 
stage, a treaty which he knew would be repellent to her. 
But the British, French', and Dutch envoys had practically 
decided the provisions before the Congress met, and they 
were not to be moved by Austrian representations. Silesia 
and Glatz were guaranteed to Prussia. The King of Sar- 
dinia received the slice of Lombardy promised by the 
Treaty of Worms. Parma and Piacenza were assigned to 
Don Philip of Spain as an hereditary principality. In re- 
turn for this concession to his son-in-law, Louis XV restored 
the Netherlands to Austria, the Barrier fortresses to Hol- 
land, and acknowledged Francis as Emperor, and George II 
as King. Madras, which had been taken by the French, 
was restored to England in return for Cape Breton and 
other British conquests in French North America. 



THE END OF THE GREAT WAR 169 

The formal notification of the intended conditions was 
made to Maria Theresa by Sir Thomas Robinson on May 
1st, 1748. "She scarcely allowed him time to execute 
his commission before she burst out in the most bitter 
reproaches. ' You, sir/ she exclaimed, ' who had such a 
share in the sacrifice of Silesia; you, who contributed 
more than any other person in procuring the additional 
cessions made to the King of Sardinia, do you still think 
to persuade me?. No, I am neither a child nor a fool. 
Your accounts about the Dutch and their urgent need of 
peace are exaggerated. But if you will have an instant 
peace, make it - s I can accede or I can negotiate for my- 
self.'"! 

Not till Maria Theresa heard that the preliminaries had 
been signed by the other envoys, and that further protest 
would be futile, was Kaunitz directed to accede to the 
detested stipulations. Protracted discussion of minor points 
delayed the conversion of the preliminaries into a definite 
peace. Finally, on October 16th, 1748, the representa- 
tives of England, Holland, and France affixed their signa- 
tures to the Treaty of Aix-Ja-Chapelle. Spain followed 
suit on October 20th, Austria on November 8th, Sardinia 
on November 20th. The ending of the war had almost 
coincided with the seventh anniversary of Frederick's in-- 
vasion of Silesia. 

When the contest was half over, a popular versifier 
supplies an answer to the queries of unlearned and ignorant 
men who failed to discover any method in the madness of 
European rulers. 

" For what have these gentry these four years been fighting 
For what have their servants been treating and writing ? 
For what have their thousands been killed— would you know? 
Why to make it as 'twas they said four years ago." 

A superficial examination of the Treaty might incline 
to a similar conclusion at the end of twice four yearsi. 
But the most important issues of the war were not such 
as can be tabulated in formal documents. Though Maria 
Theresa had neither recovered Silesia nor obtained a terri- 

1 House oj Austria, Vol, III, p. 340. 



i7o MARIA THERESA 

torial equivalent for its loss, she had gained ample com- 
pensation in other ways. 

" Thanks largely to her own magnificent courage and 
resolution, to an endurance which had never failed, and to 
a determination which had been proof against all trials, 
the heiress of the Habsburgs had brought her inheritance 
safely through a sea of formidable dangers. . . . Her do- 
minions had been welded together by the war which had 
done much to excite the loyalty and patriotism of the heroic 
Queen's subjects. It was not in Hungary only that Maria 
Theresa's appeal had touched an answering chord, though 
it was a great thing to have converted that source of weak- 
ness into a source of strength. The Imperial dignity had 
been won back and secured to a new line of Habsburgs." 1 
For the Treaty included a general recognition of the Em- 
peror as well as a general guarantee of the Pragmatic 
Sanction for all the hereditary domains of the House of 
Austria,, save Silesia and Parma. " If clear signs were 
not wanting that the old Anglo-Austrian alliance had been 
strained almost to the breaking-point, Bavaria, hitherto an 
enemy and a client of France, and Saxony were now among 
Austria's allies. The Russian alliance had to some extent 
strengthened her hands against Prussia, and the attitude of 
the Bourbon Powers was not uncompromisingly hostile. 
With one Power only were Maria Theresa's relations of an 
unfriendly nature. Her guarantee of Silesia had been given 
grudgingly and reluctantly." 2 It seemed to her like con- 
doning a robber for the seizure of booty which he made no 
attempt to conceal. Was such a pledge to be regarded as 
binding ?i Did it afford any real security against future in- 
vasion?! Her Majesty had seen too many treaties set aside 
to attribute any non-breakable quality to that of Aix-la- 
Chapelle. Sleepless vigilance was, in her opinion, a better 
insurance against unscrupulous neighbours. 

Maria Theresa's conception of her position is indicated 
by the monument at Pressburg, commemorating her close 
association with Hungary. It shows her at the end of the 
war, no longer a young Queen, but a woman of thirty, 



1 A History of Germany, 1215-1815, p. 1 70. 

2 Ibid., p. 171. 



THE END OF THE GREAT WAR 171 

though with the crown of St. Stephen still firmly poised 
on her head. The horse on which she is mounted stands 
amidst the broken cannon and overturned hurdles of her 
enemies. A Hungarian magnate, on her left, points across 
the Danube to the great plain of Hungary, signifying 
that the whole country is at her service. With sword un- 
sheathed, an hussar, on the Queen's right hand, maintains 
a watchful outlook towards the western frontier, lest any 
foe should seek to approach the Sovereign unperceived. In 
the future, as in the past, the bond between Maria Theresa 
and Hungary was to hold good — the bond whose seal was 
the three words inscribed on the pedestal of the monument : 

" VITAM ET SANGUINEM." 



CHAPTER XVI 

MARIA THERESA AND HAUGWITZ— THE ADMINIS- 
TRATIVE AND MILITARY REFORMS 

THE Austrian historian, Von Arneth, institutes a 
striking comparison between two periods of peace 
after long-continued war. The one begins in 1748, 
the other in 1 8 1 5 . The latter year restored the lordship 
of Europe to monarchs too slow of heart and brain to 
grasp the lessons of the French Revolution and the career 
of Napoleon. Taking their stand on a policy, of repression 
and reaction, they, ended by alienating their subjects and 
losing or endangering their thrones. 

It was otherwise in 1748, at least in so far as the dis- 
putants for the possession of Silesia were concerned. Seldom 
did Maria Theresa or Frederick the Great fail to profit 
by premiums paid to experience. The Peace of Aix-la- 
Chapelle found them ajready engrossed with schemes for 
the better government of their respective countries. Fred- 
erick had exhausted his father's hoarded treasure. Maria 
Theresa had never been free from the humiliating necessity 
of extorting subsidies from allies, who saddled their gifts 
with hateful conditions. Both rulers aspired to the inde- 
pendent position of the head of a prosperous state. Both 
were actuated by a sense of responsibility for the welfare 
of the people who owed them allegiance. 

Equally characteristic was Maria Theresa's determined 
opposition to the Treaty, which left her with a diminished 
patrimony, and her prompt decision to lose no time in 
bootless regrets when once it had been signed. " I forth- 
with turned my thoughts into a different channel," she 
says. " The internal condition of my realm absorbed my 
whole attention." Ever since the Peace of Dresden, a trans- 
formation of the: existing system of government had been 

172 



MARIA THERESA AND HAUGWITZ 173 

the chief object of her desire. She perceived that Fred- 
erick's success as a political adventurer was not accounted 
for by his definiteness of purpose, his military genius, or 
his well-appointed army. The secret of his tenacity was 
his power of commandeering the resources of his country. 
Very different from the centralized government of Prussia 
was the system by which Maria Theresa's dominions were 
administered. Hitherto her three crowns had merely in- 
dicated the main divisions of what was virtually a multi- 
monarchy. Her kingdoms and her archduchy were sub- 
divided into Estates (or Provinces), ruled by different titles 
and different constitutions. The Central Government was 
forced to negotiate every year with the assembly of each 
Province in order to secure an undertaking that the stipu- 
lated amount of revenue would be forthcoming, and the 
stipulated number of troops would be duly supported for 
the next twelve months. It was a wasteful and cumbrous 
system. It made no provision for exceptional circumstances. 
It prohibited any uniformity of organization, and it afforded 
no real guarantee for the defence of the monarchy. The 
defection of Bohemia and Upper Austria in 1741 had 
shown how easily the local interest could supplant the 
national one. 

To Maria Theresa it seemed that the only way to remedy 
this intolerable state of things was to substitute a benevolent 
despotism for the existing semi-feudal form of government. 
A benevolent despotism was the political ideal of her day. 
Its establishment would make the State supreme over the 
Estates, the welfare of the Austrian monarchy and all the 
peoples subject to it would be put before local interests, 
and a national army could then take the place of the un- 
satisfactory aggregate of provincial forces. 

With these general ideas in her mind the Empress ad- 
dressed herself to the Conference. Assuming that the need 
of reform was self-evident, she asked for suggestions in 
writing as to the best means of bringing it about. As one 
day followed another bringing no response to her request, 
she inferred that either the Ministers had not taken it 
seriously, or they were making it the subject of endless 
altercation amongst themselves. Bartenstein, indeed, took 
up the idea with enthusiasm, and his patient investigation 



174 MARIA THERESA 

of facts, which others strove to conceal, gave Maria Theresa 
a basis to work upon. Self-interest alone would have im- 
pelled him to support any, scheme which she had at heart. 
The other members of the Conference did not suffer him 
to forget his inferior rank. His only chance of retaining 
power was to stand well with the Sovereign. But it had 
been an excellent thing for her to come under the influence 
of the one statesman whose purposes were best served by 
a monarch who made up her own mind, instead of giving 
way to ministerial judgment. She was ever grateful to 
Bartenstein for his help at this juncture. As she pic- 
turesquely expresses it, he lit and put into her hand the 
lamp which enabled her to see her way. By contrast she 
was the more disappointed not to receive some measure of 
support from men whom she herself had advanced to power. 
It was not surprising that representatives of a privileged 
class had no appetite for internal reform; but they forgot 
that they had not, like Charles VI's venerable counsellors, 
a peculiar claim to his daughter's forbearance. When her 
patience was exhausted, she turned away from the nominal 
advisers to the Crown, and took counsel with one who, 
at the moment, held no office whatsoever. 

" By the extraordinary Providence of God," she says, 
" I had come to know Count Haugwitz, and this was the 
saving of the monarchy. ... It was the Emperor who 
first made me acquainted with him." Francis could always 
appreciate a skilled financier, and as such Count William 
Haugwitz had approved himself during a long period of 
public service in Silesia. When the greater part of the 
province was ceded to Prussia, he became governor of the 
portion retained by Maria Theresa. When that likewise 
passed into the possession of Frederick, Haugwitz betook 
himself to Vienna, and was presented to the Sovereign. 
She was always appreciative of loyal adherence to her cause, 
yet, according to her own account, the ex- Governor of 
Silesia had to be introduced to her a second time before 
she really came to know him. The reason can only be 
surmised. Her husband's recommendation and her own 
acquaintance with his character made it impossible that 
she should be prejudiced by his outward appearance. She 
had probably heard from others how completely it belied 




BARTENSTEIN 



MARIA THERESA AND HAUGWITZ 175 

him. His figure was ungainly. His features Were heavy 
and immobile. A contemporary describes him as " a wise 
man who looked uncommonly like a fool." To the casual 
observer it might well seem incredible that he could 
elaborate a scheme of governmental reform, and demon- 
strate its practicality in the teeth of the most determined 
opposition. Yet this was his ultimate claim to renown. 

For his second introduction to the Empress, Haugwitz 
was indebted to Count Silva-Tarouca. This conjunction of 
names suggests an explanation of apparent incompatibility 
of statement in Maria Theresa's summary of the earlier 
history of her reign. On the one hand she expresses un- 
bounded gratitude to her self-chosen guardian for develop- 
ing her capacity. " to form a just estimate of men and 
events." On the other she emphasizes the fact that, in 
her intercourse with him, she avoided all reference to 
business of State with which he was not directly con- 
cerned. This limited the sphere of discussion to the Nether- 
lands or the Italian principalities. If men already entrusted 
with power were exempt from criticism, how did Tarouca 
impart his very practical instruction ?i Manifestly by direct- 
ing his pupil's attention to persons eligible for the service 
of the State, but still comparatively unknown. An ex- 
amination of their qualifications was a legitimate and whole- 
some exercise. It tended to prevent disregard of unob- 
trusive merit, or hesitation as to the right man when some 
responsible post fell vacant. By the time Maria Theresa 
was driven to independent action as the sole means of 
ensuring domestic reform, she had learned beyond all doubt 
whose assistance should be invoked. 

But, with her usual caution, she did not commit herself 
to any project of collaboration until her private secretary 
had interviewed Haugwitz and ascertained what steps he 
would advocate in order to safeguard the frontiers of the 
country and generally increase its preparedness for war. 
When it appeared that his views were almost identical 
with those of the Empress, he was requested to fill in the 
outline. " He at once produced a plan for giving prac- 
tical effect to his ideas. In his opinion the security of 
the monarchy required an army of at least 108,000 men, 
and for their maintenance an annual sum of fourteen million 



176 MARIA THERESA 

gulden, an increase of not less than five million on the 
ordinary contribution from the Estates. To avoid obstruc- 
tion or fluctuation in the amount of the grant, he recom- 
mended that it should be settled for a period of ten years. 
As all ;would profit by the security thus obtained, all, whether 
noble or peasant, cleric or layman, should pay their share 
of the required contribution. A compensation for the in- 
crease of the taxes might be found in the abolition of 
payments in kind. The Empress would thus find herself 
in possession of an army sufficiently strong for the pur- 
poses of the monarchy, a certain income on which to sup- 
port it, and be free from all the trammels which the inter- 
ference of the aristocratic Estates had hitherto laid upon 
her. The army would thus assume the character of a 
national army, and could be reorganized in the complete 
form which Frederick II had taught the world to be neces- 
sary for success." 1 

This comprehensive scheme was known as the Ten Years 
Recess. It met with the hearty, approval of the Emperor 
and Empress, and the no less hearty detestation of the 
privileged classes. When the plan was brought before 
the Conference, its members were no longer apathetic. 
The advantages of their Order were at stake. The Ruler 
was reminded that she had sworn to maintain " the good 
and ancient privileges of the nobility and clergy." "Good 
privileges," she replied, "were safe enough so far as she 
was concerned, but immunity from taxation was not good, 
it was wholly, evil." 

The petty despots of the provinces were loud in their 
denunciations of the proposal to establish the unchecked 
supremacy of the State. They brought forward a rival 
plan which, though it would have simplified the existing 
system, would also have increased the power of the Estates 
and weakened that of the Central Government to a degree 
which the Conference as a whole could not approve. In 
the end the Ten Years Recess was agreed to as the lesser 
evil. Not the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, but this first vic- 
tory in the campaign of reform was to Maria Theresa the 
chief event of 1748. 

1 Bright, Maria Theresa, p. 69. 



MARIA THERESA AND HAUGWITZ 177 

During this period of greatest activity in the life of 
Haugwitz, he held the post of President of the Directoriarn, 
or Ministry of the Interior. Its creation was the first of 
a series of changes designed to simplify the machinery of 
government, and give a further impetus to the concentra- 
tion of power. Prior to 1749 the internal business of the 
monarchy as a whole had been managed, or more often 
mismanaged, by the separate Chanceries of Austria, Bo- 
hemia, and Hungary. In these departments of State there 
was no more public spirit than in the local governments. 
The Chanceries vied with each other in their efforts to 
divert the burden of taxation from the countries whose 
affairs they were appointed to administer. Each was ready 
! to sacrifice the national interest to that of its own division 
of the triple monarchy. 

Had this system remained in force the labour of Haug- 
witz would have been doubled. But Maria Theresa was 
weary of its inefficiency and dilatoriness. An opportunity 
of extending the sphere of reform occurred almost imme- 
diately after the decision in favour of the Ten Years 
Recess. The Chancellor of Bohemia died. It was decided 
to appoint no successor, but to amalgamate the Austrian 
and Bohemian Chanceries into the Directorium. Thus 
Haugwitz obtained the vantage-ground from which he could 
excrrise control over provincial administration, and give 
full effect to his great scheme. 

Its immediate result was the reorganization of the army. 
The Prussian system was taken as a model. " The army 
was brought completely under the control of the Sovereign. 
Uniformity and system were introduced into its establish- 
ments, uniforms, pay, weapons and interior economy. A 
much more careful military training was introduced. Camps 
of exercise were started, manoeuvres were held. Officers 
were given a chance of studying their profession, though 
unfortunately the restriction of commissions to men of noble 
birth was maintained. A modified conscription assured the 
means of keeping the regiments up to their establishment. 
But in no department was so much improvement effected 
as in the artillery. Thanks to the enthusiasm and energy 
of the Director-General of Ordnance, Prince Wenzel Liecht- 
enstein, and to the generosity with which he drew on his 



178 MARIA THERESA 

own resources when those of the State were inadequate, 
the artillery of Austria had soon no need to fear comparison 
with that of other armies." 1 

Maria Theresa's exultation in the new sense of military, 
strength made her all the more eager to press forward in 
other paths of reform. In all branches of the government, 
Haugwitz recommended changes of which her judgment 
approved. The management of the indirect taxes, and the 
taxes upon commodities for consumption and kindred sub- 
jects, devolved upon the Bohemian financier, Count Rudolf 
Chotek. Between Haugwitz and Chotek there was much 
rivalry, not to say downright antagonism. Nevertheless, both 
worked in the same direction. The Bohemian reformer did 
much to increase the indirect revenue by giving encourage- 
ment to trade and manufactures. Recognizing that the 
strength of a country lies chiefly in the well-being of the 
people, he devoted himself zealously to promote it by 
measures which tended always to the unification of ,the 
monarchy and the supremacy of the State. 2 

" These wide-spreading reforms, falling little short of 
the reconstitution of the country upon a new and more 
modern basis, were confined to the central provinces of 
the Austrian Empire. There are abundant indications that 
Maria Theresa would gladly have extended them to her 
three great outlying territories — Hungary, Lombardy, and 
the Netherlands." But in all three her position was very 
different from that which she held in Austria and Bohemia. 
" In Hungary she found herself at the head of a free people, 
or rather a predominant aristocracy, who regarded with in- 
tense jealousy, any infringement of their privileges, any step 
which threatened to assimilate their country to the other 
less-favoured portions of their sovereign's dominions. ..." 
Nevertheless it was impossible for a ruler with a keen 
sense of justice and a strong desire for the unity of her 
territories to see burdens laid with an unsparing hand on 
one part of the Empire, while a second part, as well able 
to bear them, was allowed to remain comparatively free. 
When rearranging her revenue Maria Theresa had been 



1 A History of Germany, 1715-1815, p. 176. 

2 See Bright, Maria Theresa, p. 74. 



MARIA THERESA AND HAUGWITZ 179 

struck by the fact that the contribution of Hungary 
amounted to little more than a third of that paid by Bo- 
hemia, although in territory, wealth, and population it was 
the richer country of the two." 1 She had been careful 
to cultivate the friendly relations which she had established 
with her Magyar subjects. " She had attached to herself 
and her Court, in a way unknown to her predecessors, 
many of the great Hungarian nobles ; and trusting to their 
support, in spite of warnings given her by some of them, 
she determined to attempt the removal of the injustice which 
had struck her," and was very hopeful of success. " The 
Diet of 175 1 showed her the vanity of this hope. Though 
she gave up all idea of bringing the nobles within the limits 
of taxation, though she demanded only a very moderate 
increase to the contribution, and though she enjoyed the 
full support of the Upper House of Magnates, her pro- 
posal met with a storm of opposition. The contest raged 
for many weeks. . . . Eventually a sort of compromise 
was arrived at. The Empress accepted about half the 
sum she had demanded. Any attempt to limit the power 
of the nobles," to induce them to shoulder a part of the 
burden of the State, "or to introduce a well-ordered ad- 
ministration having its source in the Sovereign, was laid 
aside." 2 The saying remained true that "Austria had 
an administration, but no constitution; while Hungary had 
a constitution, but no administration." 

Carlyle's contention that Frederick the Great never spoke 
of Maria Theresa otherwise than as a gentleman can easily 
be disproved. At the bidding of interest or caprice Frederick 
did not hesitate to misrepresent his opponent, or make her 
the butt of his ridicule. There is, however, a passage in his 
Histdire de mon Temps, in which he expresses generous 
approval of her policy of reform. " Maria Theresa," he 
says, " prepared in the secrecy of the Cabinet those great 
projects which she afterwards carried into execution. She 
introduced an order and economy into her finances un- 
known to her ancestors ; and her revenues far exceeded 
those possessed by her father, even when he was master 



1 Bright, Maria Theresa, pp. 74-79. 

2 Brig-ht, ib.y pp. 77-80. 



180 MARIA THERESA 

of Naples, Parma, Silesia, and Servia. Having learned the 
necessity of introducing into her army a better discipline, 
she annually formed camps in the provinces, which she 
visited herself, that she might animate the troops by her 
presence and bounty. She established a military academy 
in Vienna, and collected the most skilful professors of all 
the sciences and exercises which tend to elucidate or im- 
prove the art of war. By these institutions the army 
acquired under the auspices of Maria Theresa such a degree 
of perfection as it had never attained under any of her pre- 
decessors, and a woman accomplished designs worthy of a 
great man." 



CHAPTER XVII 
THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD IN 1748 

MARIA THERESA'S success as a " King " is the 
more astounding when it is remembered how 
much of her energy was flowing into the channels 
of social and family, life. When the Peace of Aix-la- 
Chapelle acknowledged her claim to the throne of her 
ancestors, the new Habsburg-Lorraine branch of the Aus- 
trian dynasty was well supplied with promising shoots. 
Archduke Joseph had two brothers, Charles and Leopold; 
and not only an elder sister, but three younger ones — 
Marie Christine, Elizabeth, and Amelia. They were a 
healthy little flock, thanks largely to their mother's discovery 
of the connection between physical fitness and fresh air. 

As applied to herself, Maria Theresa had also reason to 
be satisfied with a system which had other excellent features 
besides open windows. For a quarter of a century after 
her accession she enjoyed the happy consciousness of a 
strength equal to all demands upon it. Admonitions about 
sparing herself were utterly thrown away. She either made 
light of the necessity, or dismissed the subject by declaring 
that she had^ a work to do and a charmed life until it was 
accomplished. This, in the end, came to be the accepted 
belief, and it ceased to excite remark if the Empress were 
at the opera or some other fatiguing function one day, and 
in child-bed the next. Under the care of Van Swieten she 
recovered with ease and expedition from her many ex- 
periences of maternity. Almost before her coach had been 
missed on the road, between Vienna and her favourite 
Palace of Schonbrunn, she was driving past again — not at 
the slow pace favoured by former monarchs, but with a 
rapidity vainly represented to her as dangerous. 

181 



i82 MARIA THERESA 

When the events of 1748 brought to a close the first 
part of the story of her reign, she had reached the age of 
thirty-one. Her instinctive obedience to the laws of health, 
and her escape from the wellnigh universal smallpox, had 
enabled her to retain much of her beauty of feature and 
complexion, though she had lost all pretension to slender- 
ness of form. She was, however, far removed from the 
unpleasing rotundity, of her cousin, the widow of Charles 
VII, who was said to be " so corpulent that she looked 
like a ball." Maria Theresa's erect, easy carriage gave 
her the full advantage of her height. When five more 
years had passed over her head, the English Ambassador, 
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, could still testify that " her 
person was made to wear a crown and her mind to give 
lustre to it. Her countenance," he continues, " is filled 
with sense, spirit, and sweetness, and all her motions are 
accompanied with grace and dignity." 

In a teasing mood she no doubt reproached her " little 
Preceptor " for inciting her to slothfulness by the sugges- 
tion that eight o'clock was the time when a monarch should 
bestir herself. She soon felt the necessity for a longer 
day. As the demands upon her time multiplied, she drew 
more extensively from the hours of sleep. At last it became 
a settled thing that she should rise at five o'clock in 
summer, and " a trifle later " in winter. 

This naturally involved still earlier hours on the part of 
those who had to prepare her apartments and assist her 
to dress. Her personal attendants were young women of 
good family and narrow means, in whose welfare she 
took a kindly interest, and whose marriages she ultimately 
arranged. To ensure them a sufficiency of rest and re- 
laxation, only half of them went on duty each morning. 
Those whose turn it was to answer the summons of the 
Empress's bell had to appear in faultless order, and wearing 
the regulation silk gowns. They had need of all their 
wits and talents to discharge aright the combined func- 
tions of tirewomen, readers, and supernumerary secretaries. 
The constant race with time made Maria Theresa an exact- 
ing mistress. Given intelligence, method, dispatch, and a 
knowledge of languages, it was possible to satisfy the read- 
ing and secretarial demands; but the half-hour of Her 



THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD IN 1748 183 

Majesty's toilet was dreaded by all her attendants. So far 
as she herself was concerned, she cared little for personal 
adornment; but the very natural desire to be pleasing in 
the eyes of her husband was intensified by the consciousness 
that he was not so indifferent as she could have wished to 
the charms of other women. His admiration for the shining 
masses of her hair made her excessively particular about 
its arrangement. With the best will in the world it was 
not always possible for the damsels-in-waiting to achieve 
artistic effects in a very limited time. Yet failure to satisfy. 
Her Majesty in this respect boded ill for the ensuing hours. 
Finally it was observed that a certain Caroline von Hierony- 
mus had more skill than her companions in the elaborate 
hair dressing then in vogue. So the luckless girl was made 
wholly responsible for the trying task, and had to leave 
her bed in the small hours of every morning and make shift 
with what was left of her alternate days of freedom when 
the critical stage of the Imperial toilet was over. " Glorious 
slavery " was her subsequent description of her life at the 
Austrian Court. Not till after her marriage did she come to 
know "the joy of belonging to herself." 

Private devotions, dressing, attendance at Mass, and 
breakfast, consisting of little more than a cup of coffee, 
were crammed into the first hour of Maria Theresa's day. 
Then followed three to four hours of close application to 
the pile of documents awaiting her inspection. All the 
reports of State officials, the dispatches of ambassadors, 
and the petitions of her subjects were submitted to her. 
They were returned to the proper quarters with profuse 
marginal annotations, generally in the language of the 
document under review. Thus routine business was either 
well in hand or wholly disposed of before the interval 
during which the Empress said " Good morning " to her 
children. In the latter part of the forenoon her work was 
more varied. For one thing it comprised attendance at 
meetings of the Conference. The subjects for special con- 
sideration were dictated by her beforehand; and she not 
only occupied the seat of President, but took full part in 
the deliberations. Another morning occupation was the 
granting of interviews to a host of minor functionaries. 
Ministers of State were not received in the early part of 



1 84 MARIA THERESA 

the day save for some extraordinary reason. Each of them 
had his own appointed afternoon for consultation with the 
Sovereign. 

The midday dinner was Maria Theresa's first solid meal. 
But the pleasures of the table were not her pleasures. At 
all times she ate and drank sparingly, preferring lemonade 
to wine, and fruit to quantities of meat. Her candid opinion 
of the Gargantuan feasts, given in her honour by " the 
first persons of quality," could not fail to be edifying. 
If, in Austria, a simple ambassadress, like Lady Mary Wort- 
ley Montagu, was " more than once entertained with fifty 
dishes of meat, all well-dressed, the dessert proportionable," 
and a choice of eighteen different sorts of wine, one can 
vaguely guess at the lavishness and slaughter incidental to 
the entertainment of an Empress. 

In the time-table drawn up by Count Silva-Tarouca for 
the guidance of his pupil, there are three intervals for rest. 
In Maria Theresa's amended version the leisure hours be- 
came a "great Perhaps." The time between dinner and 
the afternoon audiences of the Ministers was still, as a rule, 
spent with her family; but it was one thing to listen 
to the prattle of a single child, and another to be sur- 
rounded by a group of young hopefuls, all needing to be 
taken in hand by their mother, to make up for undue in- 
dulgence on the part of their other parent. 

Descriptions of the Empress-Queen as a sort of political 
" Mrs. Jellyby " are based on the flimsiest of assumptions. 
No one familiar with her instructions for each succeeding 
Governor and Governess, or her correspondence with her 
children themselves in after-life, could doubt the sincerity of 
her love for them, or her interest in everything that con- 
cerned them. In all her directions for their upbringing 
there is a perceptible endeavour to discover a happy medium 
between pampering and harshness. "Set out to gain the 
children's respect and confidence, and there will be no 
difficulty in winning their affection," is an oft-repeated 
admonition to their guardians, and the key to her own re- 
lations with her sons and daughters. She suggests various 
amusements for them by way of reward for good conduct. 
She insists that those who have access to the Imperial 
nursery sh(ould learn to bridle their tongues, lest immature 

1 



THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD IN 1748 185 

minds be filled with vague terrors. Remembering the 
bugbears of her own childhood, she expressly forbids " all 
foolish nonsense about ghosts and witches, as well as tales 
of disaster in fires and thunderstorms." She sees no reason 
why the children should not be told of an illness in the 
household, but they are to hear no harrowing details. 
"Even smallpox and death" maybe mentioned before them, 
but as natural and not necessarily terrifying experiences. 

In her efforts to safeguard the infant imagination, Maria 
Theresa was in advance of most mothers of her day. But 
she could hardly have attained more than partial success. 
Superstition was rampant in every class of Austrian society. 
In the absence of intellectual interests, even men and women 
of exalted position lent themselves to practices more in 
keeping with the Middle Ages than the eighteenth cen- 
tury. " The doctrine of familiar spirits had its votaries 
and believers. . . . A fact not less incredible was the eager- 
ness and anxiety with which the philosopher's stone was 
sought after by the first persons in Vienna." 1 The Em- 
peror, always on the look-out for pecuniary advantages, 
extended his patronage to more than one plausible alchemist. 
His children, whatever their faults, were by no means dull. 
It cannot therefore be supposed that they had not an inkling 
of the subjects so constantly discussed by their seniors. 

The anxiety felt by the Empress at the least appearance 
of indisposition in any member of the little company was 
natural to one who had been so suddenly bereaved of two 
children. Every day Van Swieten made a round of in- 
spection among the Archdukes and Archduchesses, and wrote 
out a report for their mother. If, in the ;interim, any 
accident occurred or untoward symptom manifested itself, 
the physician had to be recalled at once, and word sent to 
the Empress, "no matter what the hour of day or night." 
Precautions were not taken in vain. With the exception 
of Charles, the second son, the children who were alive 
in 1748 survived both their parents. 

Marianne, the eldest, now ten years old, required more 
doctoring than any of her brothers and sisters. At times 
it seemed as if there could be no recovery from her sharp 

1 Wraxall, Memoirs of the Court of Vienna, 



186 MARIA THERESA 

attacks of illness, and Maria Theresa's sorrowful letters re- 
veal the depth of her affection for the first of the rising gen- 
eration who was in any sense a companion to her. Marianne 
was also a link with the days before her mother's accession, 
and she had been a favourite with the young aunt for whom 
she was named. In after years she was rather put in the 
shade by the gifts and graces of her younger sister, Marie 
Christine. Archduchess Marie was the latter's formal desig- 
nation, but in the intimacy of the family circle she was 
known as " Mimi." The pet-name lingered on her mother's 
lips and in her mother's letters long after childhood was 
past. 

The " little squirrel " of 1741 was a strong, lively, wilful 
youngster seven years later. From the day of his birth 
he had been an object of flattering attention. Now, like 
another Joseph, he was ready to believe that the sun, moon, 
and stars should bow down to him. He was at once the 
delight and the despair of his teachers, for he learned and 
forgot with equal celerity. The comic side of things ap- 
pealed to him, and his thoughtless remarks wounded tender 
susceptibilities. Yet he had an affectionate nature, " a 
good heart," as his mother expressed it. She was by no 
means blind to the shortcomings of this " dear and pre- 
cious " hostage to fortune; but she hoped for rapid im- 
provement when he was transferred from the guardianship 
of women to that of her Hungarian Field-Marshal, Count 
Charles Batthyany. 

Under the new regime Joseph learned to take an in- 
telligent and even enthusiastic interest in everything that 
pertained to the army, otherwise he owed little to his! 
official tutor. Batthyany 's outlook and methods were those 
of a soldier pure and simple. He could not understand 
that no amount of dragooning would overcome the self-will 
of a high-spirited youth. It merely checked the boy's 
natural frankness of disposition, and caused him to lean too 
exclusively on his own understanding — a tendency destined 
to bear bitter fruit in days to come. As Joseph' grew older, 
a host of tutors, professors, and abbes were set to co-operate 
with Batthyany. They met in solemn conclave, and cackled 
over the Prince, whose nature they failed to fathom. They 
compiled for his benefit a dry compendium of law, and 



THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD IN 1748 187 

another, of metaphysics, and marvelled at his lack of appetite 
for these husks of learning. In the multitude of teachers, 
a few were really competent. The professor of mathematics 
was amongst the first to commend his subject to the Arch- 
duke. After a while history, too, became a favourite study; 
for Bartenstein, who had been drawn into the consulta- 
tions, had the wit to suggest that the lecturer should throw 
over the Assyrians and Persians and expound the annals of 
Germany. When it was objected that there was no suitable 
text-book, the indefatigable Bartenstein set to work to supply 
the deficiency. Once his interest was aroused, Joseph's 
record as a student became fairly creditable. 

Of all the preposterous charges brought against the 
Empress-Queen, the most absurd is that of neglecting the 
education of the heir to her throne. Her letters, memo- 
randa, and instructions on this subject bear witness to a 
consuming anxiety that her successor should come to his 
task with a thorough mental equipment. Of education as 
a means of culture Maria Theresa had no conception, but 
she was very much alive to its utilitarian advantages, and 
was overjoyed when the soldiers and pedagogues to whom 
she entrusted, her son turned out a well-informed and ob- 
viously capable Crown Prince. In noting his points of 
resemblance to herself she lost sight of the fact that, after 
all, he was only half a Habsburg. From his father's side of 
the family he had inherited two gifts which were apt to 
bring him into conflict with Habsburg tradition — a sense of 
humour and a strong philosophic bent. 

Careful provision was also made for the training of the 
younger Archdukes. In their mother's minute directions 
to their Governors the boys seem to live again — Charles, 
with his captivating ways and his wandering attention; and 
Leopold childish, awkward, and quarrelsome. It says much 
for their schooling that the latter boy should have 
developed into the most popular and successful of the 
foreign rulers of Tuscany. 

The worst features of the utilitarian system of education 
appear in Maria Theresa's way of bringing up her daughters. 
Because they were not, like herself, predestined to a man's 
work, but to become the consorts of reigning princes, it 
was considered that the ordinary modicum of learning would 



188 MARIA THERESA 

serve their turn. Moreover, in their mother's opinion, it 
involved less risk of their becoming unduly self-assertive. 
Before all things a princess must be docile, ready to 
adapt herself to the ways of a strange Court, and slow to 
criticize her husband or his relatives. Accordingly, the 
young Archduchesses learned to play and sing and dance, 
to take part in operettas on Imperial birthdays, and to know 
something of several languages. Anything else was a mere 
smattering. Only artistic gifts had a chance of develop- 
ment. Archduchess Marie's skill in drawing and painting 
gave her an interest in life that was lacking to her less' 
obviously talented sisters, and goes far to explain her bright- 
ness and popularity. 

A comparison of the letters of the sons and daughters 
of the Empress-Queen would of itself suffice to show that 
different methods of instruction were at work. While still 
in their boyhood the elder Archdukes express themselves 
with comparative facility, and in striking contrast to the 
laboured efforts of the fifteen-year-old Marie Antoinette. 

Although decisions with regard to the establishments 
and education of the Imperial children rested with the 
head of the State, no step of any importance was taken 
without the advice and concurrence of the Emperor. The 
co-regency was one of the subjects on which Maria Theresa 
permitted herself a few illusions. Throughout the war 
she had dreamed of a time when her husband should again 
be her fellow- worker, as in the first weeks of her reign. 
But each succeeding year of divergent activity made a 
return to former conditions less practicable. It would there- 
fore have been better for Francis had he suffered himself 
to be dissuaded from taking part in the later campaigns. 
For by commanding an army he did not learn how to 
command, whereas by ruling, his consort was learning how 
to rule, and to rule alone. When the prospect of peace put 
an end to their recurrent separations, husband and wife 
entered on a critical stage in their relationship. 

To Maria Theresa, overjoyed that the will-o'-the-wisp 
of military glory could no longer lure h'er companion from 
her side, it seemed at first as if the dream had indeed come 
true. After nearly thirteen years of wedlock she was still 
the passionate lover of her husband. The day was a verit- 



THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD IN 1748 189 

able day, and not a mere space of time, when she could 
meet him in the chapel, at the council-chamber, and the 
dining-hall, and be prominently allied with him in the 
social life of the evenings. His popularity in Vienna was to 
her a source of purest satisfaction. Elsewhere it might be 
interpreted as mere homage to a Queen's consort, or an 
Emperor. In Vienna it was mainly the outcome of oppor- 
tunities of seeing Francis at his best. A sudden calamity 
— a fire or flood — had always found him ready to play the 
man. A typical instance occurred in the year 1744, 
when the Danube overflowed its banks, and the low-lying 
suburbs were inundated. Many could only escape the rising 
waters by clambering on to the roofs of their dwellings. 
There they remained huddled up for three days, without 
food, and in imminent danger of being swept away. A 
reward was offered for their rescue, but the boatmen hung 
back. Even if it were possible to stem the current of the 
turbulent river, they feared the risk of collision with the 
masses of ice and debris that were being carried down stream. 

When this came to the ears of Francis he promptly 
betook himself to the river-side. Rescue might prove im- 
possible, he said, but at least it should be attempted. Seat- 
ing himself in the nearest boat, he ordered the rowers to 
convey him to the half -submerged houses. There were no 
more faint hearts amongst the navigators. Without waiting 
to see if the first boat met with any. insuperable difficulty, 
others were launched. Francis was able to hand over 
the first slupply of provisions to the victims of the flood, 
and point to those who were following him to complete the 
work of relief and rescue. 1 

But courage which takes no account of personal risk, 
must be balanced by more stability of character than was 
possessed by the hero of the flood, if it is not to overleap 
moral bounds as well as physical obstructions. Had Maria 
Theresa chosen to drop her glove into a haunt of lions, 
Francis was quite capable of recovering it without an un- 
seemly fuss. He had given her a more striking proof of 

1 Similar inundations occurred at intervals for nearly a century after the 
reign of the Empress-Queen. Since 1877, however, the Danube has flowed 
past Vienna in an artificial channel of sufficient depth to restrain its waters in 
time of flood. 



igo MARIA THERESA 

devotion when he signed away his patrimony for her sake. 
Yet he grieved her often by stumbling amongst the pitfalls 
of everyday life. His lapses from conjugal fidelity cannot 
be explained away, neither can the plea of extenuating 
circumstances be overlooked. 

The world would have been a simpler and happier place 
for Kaiser Franz, if Maria Theresa's conception of wifely 
duty had not kept her from owning, even to herself, that 
he was not of the stuff out of which the pillars of a great 
monarchy are fashioned. He had the benevolence which 
would have- made a small state happy, and the business 
instincts which would have made it prosperous. But Lor- 
raine had been taken from him, and his consort frowned 
whenever he proposed to revisit Tuscany. The Empire 
afforded him no resource. In the tussle over the election 
of " The Bold Bavarian," the last shred of Imperial au- 
thority had been torn away. Francis was thus left with no 
absorbing public duties to counteract the prompting of an 
easygoing disposition. If he occasionally conformed to the 
eighteenth-century standard of morality for princes, the pre- 
disposing cause seems to have been sheer craving for dis- 
traction. He showed no trace of the profligacy of his father 
or his uncle, the Regent Orleans, and indulged in more 
gallivanting than actual wrongdoing. By the purveyor of 
Court gossip his aberrations have been as wildly exaggerated 
as the resentment of his wife. Like Francis' Lord Castle- 
wood, 1 the Emperor Francis was " a jolly gentleman, with 
very little of the august or divine in his nature, though 
his fond wife persisted in revering it. And, besides, he had 
to pay a penalty for this love, which persons of his dis- 
position seldom like to defray; and, in a word, if he had 
a loving wife, had a very jealous and exacting one." For- 
tunately she was much too wise to take up an injured 
attitude. " Avoid reproaches, long explanations, and, above 
all, disputes," is her advice to an aggrieved wife. "It is 
possible to be gentle and tender, and yet make it quite 
clear how much we are pained by certain things. Having 
once given expression to our feelings, without bitterness or 
airs of superiority, perhaps even with a caress, it is safer 
to maintain silence." 

1 See Thackeray's Esmond. 



THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD IN 1748 191 

From the Empress the members of her social environ- 
ment took their cue. In former days Countess Althan had 
exercised considerable influence as the mjstress of Charles VI. 
But the women who inspired a fleeting interest in Francis I 
had no influence whatsoever, and were vaguely referred to 
as "the Emperor's friends." In her inmost heart Maria 
Theresa knew that she had no rival in her husband's affec- 
tion. Not for long could he endure the sense of her dis- 
approval. If he failed to appease her by confessing himself 
in the wrong, he would coax their old friend Countess 
Fuchs to assume the office of mediator. To the apart- 
ments of the Mistress of the Household he often resorted, 
v/hen weary of even the modified ceremoniousness of the 
Court. Her daughters were pleasant, intelligent women, 
and they cannot be reckoned among the Emperor's dan- 
gerous " friends." The elder of the two was married to 
Count Leopold Daun, who had already given proof of the 
military skill which was to secure him a place of his own 
in the history of his country. 

So long as the war lasted, Francis was closely associated 
with his brother Charles. Early in 1749 the latter took up 
his residence in Brussels. As a defender of the Nether- 
lands he had cut a poor figure. Backed up by ministers 
dispatched from Vienna, he proved an acceptable and satis- 
factory Viceroy. 

After the departure of Charles, the Emperor made a more 
frequent companion of his only surviving sister, Charlotte 
of Lorraine. Since the death of her mother, in 1745, she 
had been a member of the Imperial household. Yet it is not 
surprising that she never came to feel at home in Vienna. 
Her devotion to her brother could not bring her into touch 
with a sister-in-law who was reluctant to make room for 
the most innocent worshipper at her husband's shrine. Of 
the contrast between herself and that same handsome sister- 
in-law the Princess was painfully aware. Her Serene High- 
ness was a tall, spare woman, with just sufficient resem- 
blance to the Emperor to suggest that she might have 
been passably good-looking but for the ravages of small- 
pox. Her patriotism may have been a link between her 
and Maria Theresa, but of that there is no certainty. The 
failure to recapture Lorraine was a sore point with the 



192 MARIA THERESA 

Empress-Queen, and when the homesick Charlotte declared 
that she would gladly travel barefoot like a pilgrim, if the 
way led back to the land of her nativity, the chances are 
that she received scant sympathy. 

Still, her sojourn at the Habsfru-g Court was not with- 
out its compensations. There were red-letter days, when 
the Emperor contrived that he and his sister should dodge 
their official attendants, and go for a walk by themselves 
on the fortifications of Vienna or in the country about 
Schonbrunn. Charlotte's comprehension of her brother's 
restless moods made it easy for him to confide in her, and 
he was profoundly grieved when she could no longer be 
prevailed upon to share his family life. The plea to be 
provided for elsewhere, which she urged in 1753, was 
entirely reasonable. Her nieces were growing up — Marianne 
was fifteen, Marie eleven — they could no longer be kept 
in the background. Dearly as she loved them, Princess 
Charlotte was not prepared to be always giving place to 
these sprightly young creatures. She could guess at the 
mocking comments that would be suggested by the con- 
trast between their girlish prettiness and her own gaunft 
figure and haggard features. Her brother Charles was 
evidently sincere in his determination to put no second 
wife in the place of the young princess who had been in 
her tomb for eight years. In the Netherlands Charlotte 
would certainly have more scope than in Austria. At first 
Maria Theresa joined her husband in entreating their guest 
to reconsider her decision. Finding that the latter had 
made up her mind to leave them, the Empress generously 
made over one of her own sinecures to her sister-in-law, 
who thus became titular superior of a religious foundation 
for women of rank at Mons. In September, 1754, the 
Empress, as Queen of Bohemia, agreed to inaugurate a 
similar institution at Prague. She was accompanied by 
the Emperor and his sister. From the Bohemian capital 
Charlotte continued her journey to Belgium, but she re- 
turned at intervals to visit her Habsburg relatives. 

No picture of the Imperial household in 1748 would 
be complete if it did not include the Dowager-Empress. 
Though only fifty-five years of age, Elizabeth of Bruns- 
wick looked like a much older woman. Her regular features 



THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD IN 1748 193 

and beautiful hands were the only relics of former loveliness. 
Her hair was perfectly white, her complexion florid. Her 
inclination to stoutness had been accentuated by a dropsical 
affection till any movement was a difficulty. Indeed, she 
regarded herself as a representative of a past epoch. Natur- 
ally it was an epoch of greater glory for the House of 
Habsburg than that which had taken its place. But it 
must be remembered that Elizabeth had a little political 
influence in the reign of her husband, whereas she had none 
at all in that of his successor. Yet she clung with pathetic 
confidence to her strong, capable daughter, who returned 
her affection, and made ample provision for her comfort. 
In spite of precarious health, the elder Empress retained 
her cheerfulness and her kindliness of disposition. She 
was a great favourite with her grandchildren. Doubtless 
she found them even more diverting than the hideous dwarfs 
and the half-tipsy parrots 1 that vanished with herself from 
the precincts of the Austrian Court. The death of Eliza- 
beth in December, 1750, had no significance for the world 
in general, though it left a great blank in the life of 
Maria Theresa, now the last of the family of Charles VI. 

1 In a return of the annual expenditure of the Court of Charles VI, there is 
special mention of a provision of wine for the sops of the Empress Elizabeth's 
parrots. 



13 



CHAPTER XVIII 
MARIA THERESA'S CAPITAL 

ONLY on the occasion of her visit to Florence was 
Maria Theresa away from Vienna in the winter season. 
Her love of Schonbrunn was something quite dif- 
ferent from her pride in the ancient capital of her dynasty. 
Few cities were so clearly predestined to greatness. The 
strategic importance of its position was fully recognized by 
the Romans. It is apparent to any observant individual 
who takes his stand on one of the low hills that overlook 
the town. The wooded slopes at his feet are the outposts 
of the Eastern Alps. Across the plain the western spurs of 
the Carpathians are clearly visible. Through the pre- 
historic cleft, in what was originally a continuous mountain- 
range, flows the broad Danube, with its offer of facile 
intercourse between Eastern and Western Europe. Vienna 
is seen to be a city with a vocation. To her it was given 
to keep watch like a sentinel at this gateway of the nations. 
Time after time she played her part in the struggle of 
the early rulers of Austria to stay the advance of Magyars, 
Wends, and other would-be invaders. Their success in re- 
taining possession of their debatable land is a striking testi- 
mony to their ability. They showed no special favour to 
Vienna. She was merely an important link in their chain of 
fortresses. Her first advance to independent fame is asso- 
ciated with the era of the Crusades. Each successive wave 
of enthusiasm for the recovery, of the Holy Sepulchre 
brought hosts of eastward-bound warriors down the Danube 
valley. The leaders of the several armies were hospitably 
entertained by the Babenberg margraves. 1 The plain about 
Vienna was a popular camping-ground. Without forfeiting 
its military reputation, the city became a recognized trading 

1 See Genealogical Introduction. 
194 



MARIA THERESA'S CAPITAL 195 

centre, and was extended to meet the needs of a growing 
population. 

The reigning Margrave of Austria, Heinrich Jasomirgott, 
was one of the few who returned in safety from the dis- 
astrous second Crusade. He had borne himself bravely, 
won the friendship of the Emperor Conrad III, and re- 
ceived the title of Duke. Under his rule Austria entered 
on a period of wise and ordered government. Vienna was 
declared to be the ducal capital. A new castle was erected 
to serve as a princely residence rather than a place of 
defence. A little chapel, dedicated to St. Stephen, made 
way for a great minster church. 

A simple wall with towers surrounded the capital of the 
first Duke of Austria. The city outgrew its wall in the 
reign of his son, Duke Leopold. The cost of its exten- 
sion was defrayed by English money. For Leopold was 
a public-spirited ruler, who made no selfish use of his 
share of the ransom of Richard I of England. The ro- 
mantic story of Richard's imprisonment has little foundation 
in fact. After about two months' captivity in Austria he 
was transferred to the custody of the Emperor. This does 
not allow for much seeking on the part of Blondel. 

Had Cceur de Lion's place of detention been veritably 
unknown to his friends, no one would have the same good 
chance of discovering it as a wandering bard. Blondel 
might have penetrated in safety to the Court of Leopold 
himself, where Minnesingers, or strolling minstrels, seem to 
have taken up their abode for indefinite periods. Leo- 
pold's son received as an honoured guest the greatest lyric 
poet of all the Minnesingers, Walter von der Vogelweide. 
The last Babenberg duke, Frederick the Warlike, was a 
patron of the half -legendary Tannhauser. 

The taking of Vienna by Rudolf of Habsburg, in 1276, 
was associated with a terrible outbreak of fire. Rudolf 
himself had little time to consider schemes of reconstruc- 
tion, but not a few of his successors were enthusiastic 
builders. The twelfth-century church of St. Stephen had 
been destroyed. On its site the choir of the existing 
cathedral was erected early in the fourteenth century. Duke 
Rudolf IV (1356-65), the founder of the University of 
Vienna, ordered the preparation of plans for the completion 



196 MARIA THERESA 

of St. Stephen's. He laid the foundation of the nave, also, 
it is believed, of the great south tower. A city so liable 
to attack as Vienna had to be kept within limits of possible 
defence. The fortifications, which formed the boundary, 
of the inner city till 1857, were probably marked out 
before the Habsburgs established their supremacy in Austria. 
Under their direction the walls of the capital were built 
strong and high, and surrounded by earthworks. 1 Every 
precaution was needful, especially after 1453, when the 
ambition of the Turks was a constant menace to the peace 
and safety of Austria. Twice Vienna was called upon to 
withstand the attack of Moslem invaders. But for the 
timely raising of the siege in 1683, the mediaeval city would 
have been wiped out. With great breaches in its fortifica- 
tions and ruins everywhere, it was almost at the mercy of 
the enemy. Fortunately the cathedral and some other 
notable buildings escaped destruction. 

Here was an opportunity for the architect similar to that 
afforded by the Great Fire of London. Three names are 
prominently associated with the restoration of Vienna: they 
are those of Bernard Fischer von Erlach, his son Emanuel, 
and Lucas von Hildebrand. As a suburban residence for 
Prince Eugene, Hildebrand built the Belvedere. He also 
had a share in the erection of new town palaces for the 
great nobles. The two Fischers were even more esteemed 
as the designers of town and country houses. But their 
work in Vienna is seen at its best in the Church of St. 
Peter, with its fine dome, the Church of St. Charles Bor- 
romeo, and in certain noteworthy additions to the Hofburg. 
Thus they are responsible for the Palace of the Imperial 
Chancellor, with its curved fagade and fine iron gateway 
that gives access to the group of quadrangles round which 
are built the earlier and later portions of the residence 
of the Habsburg emperors. The Imperial Library, a most 
important adjunct to the Hofburg, likewise perpetuates the 
name of Fischer von Erlach. 

Excepting the Church of St. Peter, all these buildings 

1 As "Vienna's fatal walls" they are referred to in In Memoriam, They 
remained standing for over twenty years after the sudden death of Arthur 
Hallam within their precincts. Eventually they gave place to a circular 
boulevard — the Ring: Strasse of modern Vienna. 



MARIA THERESA'S CAPITAL 197 

belong to the reign of Charles VI. He was keenly inter- 
ested in the progress of the church dedicated to his patron 
saint, Charles Borromeo. Begun in the early part of the 
Emperor's reign, as a thank-offering for the cessation of 
plague, it was completed shortly before his death. The 
two colossal columns flanking its portico single it out from 
other churches. In the days before the levelling of the 
fortifications and the advance of the suburbs towards the city, 
the Karlskirche dominated the entire district south of Vienna. 

The great siege had involved the wholesale destruction 
of the existing suburbs, so for fear of any future invest- 
ment of the capital it was decreed that " no houses without 
the walls were to be built nearer the glacis than six hun- 
dred yards." There is, therefore, says a visitor to Vienna 
in the days of Maria Theresa, 1 " a circular field, six hun- 
dred paces broad, all round the town, which, exclusive of 
the advantage of minimizing danger in a siege, has a 
very beautiful and salutary effect. Beyond the plain the 
suburbs are built. They form a very extensive and mag- 
nificent town of an irregularly circular form, containing 
within its bosom a spacious field, which has for its centre 
the original town of Vienna. These suburbs and the town 
together are said to contain 300,000 inhabitants." 

Another enthusiastic spectator evidently familiar with the 
view of the Austrian capital from the neighbouring hills, 
compares Vienna to "an ornament in the form of a star, 
its centre a cluster of diamonds, surrounded by a band of 
emeralds, from which long rays of many-coloured gems 
proceed in all directions." 

Very different was the impression of those whose first 
glimpse of the Kaisersladt was obtained from the river 
or the plain. They were naturally disappointed when the 
city which had bulked so large in their imagination merely 
presented the aspect of a huge fortress. Yet there was 
promise of interest within the circumscribed space. Above 
the ramparts and walls appeared the gables of tall houses 
and the turrets of palaces. From these the eye was attracted 
to the steeples and domes of many churches, the great spire 
of St. Stephen's outsoaring them all. 

1 Dr. John Moore. 



198 MARIA THERESA 

It must be admitted that the preliminary exaction of 
payment under the name of Customs, and the abstraction 
of every printed volume for inspection by the censor, were 
not calculated to prepossess the weary traveller in favour 
of Vienna. Says one exasperated Briton, 1 " We passed 
along a dusty suburb round the town, which is as ugly as 
anything can be, to the Custom House, where we under- 
went a severe examination, and paid thirteen florins, duties 
for mere trifles." Yet when the visitor had time to recover 
his equanimity and look around, he usually became as 
exclamatory, about the height of the buildings as the modern 
traveller in sight of the sky-scrapers of New York. In- 
deed, a German tourist almost anticipates the American 
definition. " On every side," he says, " are houses as 
lofty as towers, for the space which the earth denies to 
the builders is borrowed from the skies." But by far the 
most graphic description of eighteenth-century Vienna is 
that of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. " This town," she 
writes, " which has the honour of being the Emperor's 
residence, did not at all answer to my ideas of it, being 
much less than I expected to find it. The streets are 
very close, and so narrow one cannot observe the fine 
fronts of the palaces, though many of them very well deserve 
observation, being truly magnificent, all built of fine white 
stone, and excessive high. The town being so much too little 
for the number of the people that desire to live in it, the 
builders seem to have projected to repair that misfortune 
by clapping one town on the top of another, most of the 
houses being of five, and some of them of six stories. You 
may easily imagine that the streets being so narrow, the 
upper rooms are extremely dark. 2 And what is an incon- 
veniency much more intolerable, in my opinion, there is 
no house that has so few as five or six families in it. 
The apartments of the greatest ladies are divided but by, 
a partition from that of a tailor or a shoemaker, and I know, 
nobody who has above two floors in any house, one for 
their own use, and one higher for their servants. Those 
that have houses of their own let out the rest of them to 



1 Sir Henry Swinburne, Memoirs of the Courts of Europe. 

2 The projecting- roofs were also responsible for the exclusion of light. 



MARIA THERESA'S CAPITAL 199 

whoever will take them. Thus the great stairs, which are 
all of stone, are as common and dirty as the street. 'Tis 
true, when you have once travelled through them, nothing 
can be more surprisingly magnificent than the apartments. 
They are commonly a suite of eight or ten large rooms, 
all inlaid, the doors and windows richly carved and gilt, 
and the furniture such as is seldom seen in the palaces of 
sovereign princes in other countries." 

As for the tailor and the shoemaker, they would doubt- 
less have been overjoyed to escape from the necessity of 
pursuing their avocations in private houses. But they were 
handicapped by the extreme difficulty of securing proper 
business premises in a city crowded into a three-mile cir- 
cuit; one, moreover, where those who held any position at 
Court had to be suitably lodged before the claims of other 
would-be residents were considered. Out of the limited 
number of ordinary dwelling-places for which space could 
be found, no fewer than eighty were retained by the Sover- 
eign for the benefit of Court functionaries. So numerous 
were they in the reign of Charles VI that even this generous 
provision proved insufficient. Thenceforward many houses 
could be obtained on lease only on condition that par- 
ticular suites of apartments were reserved for the benefit 
of Imperial nominees. It was an irksome and unpopular 
regulation, leading to the shameless overcrowding of un- 
privileged citizens, and to abnormally high rents. It is not 
surprising that " few of the common people lived in the 
city." They departed at nightfall and reappeared at the 
city gates in the morning — a motley horde of servants, 
tradesfolk, labourers, beggars. Those who in other places 
would have ranked as small shopkeepers, were lucky jf 
they could display their wares in some shelterless open 
space. No market could make up for the scarcity of shops. 
The provisioning of the city seems to have been almost 
entirely in the hands of hawkers. They were a hard- 
working, quick-witted, impudent, clamorous crew, who could 
tickle the ears of the populace amidst all the din of the 
streets. Every city was noisy when springless vehicles 
rattled over cobble-stones, and success in trade was largely 
a matter of lung power. But even the seasoned traveller 
avowed that he had heard nothing to equal the tumult of 



200 MARIA THERESA 

Vienna. There were few streets in which carriages could 
pass, and without a war of words no charioteer would give 
way to another. As for the foot-passengers, it was a case 
of every man for himself, or a bath in the gutter. One 
lively tourist suggested that half the population should 
be killed off, or else allowed to promenade on the heads 
of the other half. 

When the stranger in Vienna could pause and watch 
the passers-by he was invariably impressed by the com- 
position of the throng. "The streets," says Sir Nicholas 
Wraxall, " are crowded with people of various nations. 
I constantly meet Hungarians, Greeks, Turks, and Poles, 
all habited in the peculiar dress of their respective coun- 
tries. Nothing is more picturesque and amusing than such 
a diversity, which rarely occurs in London or Paris." 1 

Considering the general deficiency of light and ventila- 
tion, it is not astonishing that strangers also noted the 
pallid, unhealthy look of constant residents in Vienna. Their 
outings to church and market ensured no breathing of 
fresh air, and an occasional saunter on the city wall could 
hardly count as exercise. The energetic Wraxall, who 
assured everybody that less than fifty minutes sufficed for 
a walk right round the city, was doubtless regarded by 
the Viennese as an eccentric and tiresome foreigner. 

The Emperor's influence over other nations had long been 
a thing of the past, but the spirit of cosmopolitanism lingered 
on in the Imperial capital. " It is not in Vienna as with us," 
says Wraxall, " where a native of France or Germany, 
however well-born and accomplished, may pass many winters 
in vain endeavours to force himself into the society of the 
great. He is not driven here, as in London and Paris, to 
the theatres and public places of diversion for a refuge 
from dulness. The common rallying-point of pleasure 
and relaxation is here found in the highest circles, to 
which he is immediately carried." That is to say, after 
being duly vouched for by the Ambassador of his country. 
The sociability of Maria Theresa was emulated by her chief 
Ministers. They, too, held receptions on certain evenings 
of the week, and strangers who had been introduced 

1 Wraxall, Memoirs of the Court of Vienna. 



MARIA THERESA'S CAPITAL 201 

to them were welcome to be present as often as they 
pleased. 

Vienna therefore only needed time to bring the properly 
accredited traveller under her spell. He might enter her 
gates with words of disappointment on his lips, but once 
within her charmed circle he was conscious of no exaggera- 
tion when he caught the refrain of the popular ballad, 
'S gibt nur a Kaiserstadt, '5 gibt nur a Wean. 1 

1 There's only one Imperial city, only one Vienna. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE EDUCATIONAL REFORMS OF MARIA THERESA 
AND VAN SWIETEN 

UNLIKE her father and grandfather, Maria Theresa 
had no purely aesthetic pleasure in the erection of 
stately buildings. For the beautifying of Schon- 
brunn her husband and Kaunitz deserve more credit than 
herself. The original shooting-lodge had been destroyed 
by the Turks in 1683. Leopold I replaced it by a more 
imposing edifice, which became the chosen residence of 
his son Joseph. Because it afforded facilities' for shoot- 
ing game and comparative freedom from the ceremonious- 
ness of Vienna, Francis I loved Schonbrunn with a pas- 
sionate affection. To the Empress its chief attraction was 
the garden, wherein was the " beautiful spring," for which 
the place was named. There in the long summer days 
she did most of her work. A sentry at the end of the 
path guarded her privacy. Otherwise the public came and 
went as they liked. As for the residence she would have 
been content to make haphazard additions to meet the 
growing needs of her family. It was Francis who in- 
sisted that the extensions should be carried out with some 
regard to symmetry. 

The buildings with which Maria Theresa is peculiarly 
identified are neither churches nor palaces, but centres of 
political, educational, and charitable enterprise. The 
shadow of her personality is clearly to be discerned in 
the University of Vienna and its far-famed medical school. 
Of all her friendships, none was more bracing or more 
potent in its results than her friendship with Van Swieten. 
It began before he set foot in Austria, and went on deepen- 
ing to the end of his life, more than a quarter of a century 



EDUCATIONAL REFORMS 203 

afterwards. Their mutual respect and admiration was un- 
bounded. Neither apparently ever failed to rise to the 
level of the other's expectation. The young ruler who ap- 
pointed Count Silva-Tarouca to criticize her unsparingly 
in her public capacity, stipulated also with Van Swieten 
for the truth at all times and rejoiced to be taken at her 
word. She had induced him to enter her service by a 
pledge of support against possible enemies. No promise 
was ever more faithfully kept. Like other drastic reformers 
he was never without opponents of the malevolent type, 
but they were generally forced to admit in the long run that 
it was futile to cabal against him. 

On his first coming to Vienna he was established in the 
threefold capacity of Physician-in-Ordinary to the Imperial 
household, professor of certain branches of medical science, 
and Prefect of the Imperial Library. 

His popularity as a lecturer roused a perfect storm of 
jealous resentment, not only in the Medical Faculty but 
throughout the University. For generations every, depart- 
ment of learning had been in the control of the Jesuits. 
They had concentrated their efforts on the teaching of 
law and theology. Foreseeing that the scientific study of 
philosophy and medicine might beget a spirit irreconcil- 
able with submission to authority, both departments had been 
systematically neglected. France, England, and Holland 
had progressive medical schools. Petty German states had 
colleges where natural science was efficiently taught; but 
the University in the capital of the Empire lagged hope- 
lessly behind. 

To Van Swieten, fresh from the flourishing University 
of Leyden, the stagnation at Vienna was manifest from 
the outset. So also was the spirit of antagonism with 
which his own work was regarded. When he had been 
four years in Austria, the pent-up fury of his colleagues 
broke loose. But by. levelling accusations against him they 
were simply playing into his hand. For the outburst led 
Maria Theresa to inquire, with a minuteness she might not 
otherwise have deemed necessary, into the whole system 
of teaching at the University. She pronounced it to be 
" full of errors and of little practical use." As a first 
step towards improvement Van Swieten was nominated per- 



204 MARIA THERESA 

petual President of the Medical Faculty and given the con- 
genial task of drawing up a plan for its reconstruction. 
His proposals were an elaboration of principles for which, 
as a scholastic reformer, he never ceased to contend: that 
is to say, transference to the Crown of the authority in 
secular education hitherto claimed by the Jesuits ; con- 
sideration of merit, and not influence, in making appoint- 
ments to the teaching staff, and due correlation of theoreti- 
cal and practical instruction. 

The extent of Maria Theresa's confidence in her chosen 
man of science is evident when she sanctioned all his pro- 
posals. For though calculated in the main to appeal to a 
benevolent despot, who detested ineptitude as heartily as 
Van Swieten himself, there was a revolutionary flavour about 
the whole scheme. But shle hesitated when he went on to 
suggest making a clean sweep of the existing medical staff, 
with a view to the immediate realization of his ideal. She 
granted that little good was being accomplished, but sum- 
mary dismissal seemed to need the justification of absolute 
wrongdoing. Van Swieten had to convince her that she 
could not tolerate the prevailing condition of things a day 
longer than necessary without conniving at wholesale 
murder. He succeeded by calling her attention to the fact 
that out of six hundred children admitted to the Municipal 
Hospital, only about twenty had left the place alive. She 
made no further resistance to his final proposal, and he 
presently found himself with a free field and a free hand 
for its cultivation. 

For a time he appears to have gone about the work 
almost single-handed. He was hampered by want of space, 
and had to use the vestibule of the Imperial Library as a 
class-room. For lack of text-books, he had to dictate the 
first principles of science to his pupils. He lectured on 
physiology, anatomy, pathology, and pharmacy. His own 
anatomical collection was put at the service of the students, 
and doubtless he had their needs primarily in view when 
he made a properly appointed reading-room a feature of 
the Imperial Library. 

Van Swieten also contrived to do away with the most 
crying abuses in the Municipal Hospital, and made it avail- 
able for practical teaching. Inability to fit this branch of 




GERARD VAN SWIETEN 

AFTER THE PORTRAIT BY r. FENDI 



EDUCATIONAL REFORMS 205 

instruction into his overcrowded days led to the most note- 
worthy of all the appointments which he was instrumental in 
bringing about, namely, that of the man who ranks next to 
himself as a founder of the medical school of Vienna — 
Antony de Haen. 

De Haen was a friend, fellow-townsman, and co- 
religionist of Van Swieten's. They had sat together at 
the feet of Boerhaave, and had been fired by the same 
enthusiasm for their master's method of discovering truth 
by following nature. Neither had ever grown weary of the 
pursuit. De Haen had combined original research with an 
extensive practice in The Hague. He was pre-eminently 
fitted for the post of clinical teacher. His methods were 
for the most part so far in advance of his own day as to 
seem like a revelation to the pupils who flocked to him. 
In the importance he attributed to the pulse, temperature, 
and diet of his patients, he was entirely modern, as also in 
his condemnation of overheated rooms and piles of bed- 
clothes. He was one of the first, if not the very first, to 
advocate the use of small portable clinical thermometers. 

In his inaugural address, De Haen declared his readiness 
to " dedicate, devote and sacrifice himself " to his stu- 
dents. Twenty strenuous years demonstrated the genuine- 
ness of this profession. For an irritable man he was 
wonderfully patient with the pupils, who looked up to him. 
But he could not brook the slightest contradiction from 
other scientists. While Van Swieten, following Boerhaave, 
had grave doubts of the harmlessness and effectiveness of 
preventive inoculation, De Haen thundered against it as 
a deadly evil. Not a few of his denunciatory pamphlets 
were directed against its advocates. Thus at a time when 
Maria Theresa's correspondence proves her interest in the 
new method of evading confluent smallpox, and when Van 
Swieten with his openness to conviction might have been 
led to reconsider the subject, they had at their elbow a 
scientist of European renown, an acknowledged authority 
on febrile diseases, who proclaimed in season and out of 
season the dangers of inoculation. 

In order to make Vienna a centre of attraction to the 
wise and learned of other countries, Van Swieten had stipu- 
lated for acknowledged rank and a considerable augmenta- 



206 MARIA THERESA 

tion of salary for University professors. From Holland 
came not only De Haen, but Nicholas Jacquin, an illus- 
trious occupant of the chair of chemistry and botany. It 
had been founded in response to the representations of 
Van Swieten, seconded by those of the Emperor, who was 
interested in these particular branches of medical lore. At 
his own charges, Francis sent Jacquin to the West Indies 
to study the flora of the tropics, and to collect rare plants 
for the Imperial gardens and the Botanical Garden. The 
latter had been a private, suburban pleasure-ground till 
Maria Theresa was persuaded by her energetic physician 
to purchase it for scientific purposes and to establish Jac- 
quin as curator. 

Both the Empress and her fellow-reformer were eager 
for the day when it should no longer be necessary to look 
abroad for the right man to fill a vacant post. In process 
of time Van Swieten discovered that certain of his pupils 
only needed insight into the methods of specialists in order 
to qualify them for tutorial rank. More than one talented 
youth, who could not afford to complete his education at 
a foreign medical school, was helped on his way either by 
the Empress or by the generosity of Van Swieten himself. 
Thus the latter was enabled to depute to men familiar with 
his own methods, the scientific instruction of the students, 
while he continued to lecture on the Institutes of Boerhaave 
and to make his influence felt in every branch of the 
work. 

This lightening of his labours as a professor was ren- 
dered necessary by the demands that were being made 
upon him as an administrator. He had given Maria Theresa 
some idea of the suffering that was due to unskilled treat- 
ment of disease, and she could not rest until he had under- 
taken to initiate reforms in every medical centre in the 
country. Moreover, his success in vivifying one depart- 
ment of collegiate teaching had led to his being entrusted 
with the reorganization of the University as a whole. The 
Empress declared it to be her ambition that no seat of 
learning in Europe should surpass Vienna in the excellence 
of its legal instruction. The professorships of law were 
henceforward to be reserved for men who had already 
made their mark, either as jurists or lecturers at some 



EDUCATIONAL REFORM 207 

other university, and who had also given proof of ability 
by their writings. 

As the School of Law was the school of statesmen and 
civil servants, Maria Theresa was filled with hope for the 
future, when students from every part of her dominions 
as well as from abroad were drawn to her capital by the 
fame of Paul Riegger, the professor of canon law, of Mar- 
tini, who lectured on natural and Roman law, and of the 
brilliant Sonnenfels, the exponent of economics and com- 
mercial law. 

The installation of these eminent laymen was a more 
direct encroachment on the preserves of the Jesuits than 
their exclusion from the medical department. It was fol- 
lowed up by decrees which definitely deprived the Rector 
of their College of his assumed right to an ex officio seat 
on the Council of the University, and made Jesuits .in- 
eligible for the position of dean of any faculty or examiner 
in any subject. 

Needless to say the Dutch reformer was assailed with 
more virulence than ever. Fortunately for him, his anti- 
Jesuitical measures could never be described as anti-clerical. 
In his earlier reforms he was ably seconded by Trautson, 
the liberal-minded Archbishop of Vienna. Fortunately also 
his opponents were incapable of perceiving that Maria 
Theresa's logical mind was alienated by railing accusations, 
whereas she was susceptible to the influence of facts and 
statistics. Because Van Swieten never railed and never 
disguised the truth, he was able to curtail the power of 
the Jesuits, through the power of a monarch who had been 
their pupil from infancy, who still had a Jesuit confessor 
and a natural predilection for the disciples of Loyola. 

No prompting was needed in order to convince Maria 
Theresa of the necessity of providing suitable accommoda- 
tion for distinguished professors with troops of students. 
She herself made the first move in 1752, when she proposed 
that Haugwitz should consult Archbishop Trautson and Van 
Swieten with regard to general requirements. In the fol- 
lowing year the Empress purchased several houses beyond 
the city wall, but facing the fortifications, in order to pro- 
vide a site for the new University. The class-rooms were 
to be of ample size, and the theatre for anatomical and 



208 MARIA THERESA 

surgical demonstrations allowed for the presence of two 
hundred students. An impressive exterior was designed 
for the national seat of learning. The University of Vienna, 
with its palatial fagade, is the representative building of 
the reign of Maria Theresa. She had undertaken to open 
it in person in the autumn of 1755, but the impending 
birth of her daughter Marie Antoinette led to the postpone- 
ment of the ceremony till the spring of 1756. Nothing 
was then omitted in order to do honour to the occasion. 
The Emperor and Empress proceeded in state to the new 
centre of intellectual life. They were accompanied by Arch- 
duke Joseph and their two elder daughters. The impres- 
sive proceedings ended with the distribution of a thousand 
ducats amongst the poorer students. 

Although reform had begun at the top of the educa- 
tional ladder, it was not intended that any grade should be 
overlooked. In the schooling of her people, as in the 
schooling of her children, Maria Theresa had an eye to 
utilitarian objects. " Intelligent obedience in the subject, 
well-ordered industry in the producer, education and train- 
ing in the governing classes were necessary conditions of 
success in the development of the new system, and were 
inconsistent with the prevalent laxity of morals, rough man- 
ners, gross ignorance and superstition. The improvement 
of education emanating like the rest of the system from 
a central authority received therefore much attention. 
Though the primary schools were not reorganized till some- 
what later, steps in the right direction were taken, and a 
well-arranged and stringent system of examinations breathed 
new life into the secondary schools or gymnasia." 1 

Frederick the Great's eulogy of Maria Theresa's reforms 
makes special mention of " the establishment of a military 
academy in Vienna." It was not, however, in the city, 
but in Wiener- Neustadt, thirty miles off, that the Sand- 
hurst of Austria was established in 1752. Finding no 
means of raising funds for a new structure, the Empress 
lodged her budding warriors in an ancient, Imperial castle. 
She had already devoted to the education of future states- 
men and civil servants a palace within the lines of fortifica- 

1 Bright, Maria Theresa, p. 76. 



EDUCATIONAL REFORMS 209 

tion, which her father had preferred to Schonbrunn as a 
summer resort. It had been known as the Favorita. 
On its transformation into a public school its name was 
changed. Thenceforward it was the Theresianum. Of both 
these institutions the Empress- Queen was a munificent 
patroness. She made efforts to attend their public exami- 
nations and to show her interest on every possible occa- 
sion. The Theresianum came to be related to the Hofburg 
in much the same way as Eton is related to Windsor. 

The military academy was placed under the superinten- 
dence of Count Leopold Daun, son-in-law of Countess Fuchs, 
who proved to be the right man in the right place. Jesuit 
schoolmasters were responsible for the general instruction 
of the pupils of both schools, but the distinctive objects 
were gained by the teaching of specialists. Somewhat 
similar lines were followed in a third school which owed 
its foundation to Maria Theresa. This was the Oriental 
Academy, or training ground for diplomatists. Its Orient was 
the near East, and pupils were specially required to familiarize 
themselves with the language and institutions of Turkey. 

Educational reform involved consideration of the subject 
of text-books. The arbitrary censorship of literature by 
the Jesuits brought them into conflict with Van Swieten, 
as Prefect of the Imperial Library. It was probably at 
his instigation that in 1749 Haugwitz persuaded the Em- 
press that more satisfactory results would be obtained if 
publications were classified and submitted to various censors. 
Then the Jesuits might still give a verdict on theological 
and philosophical works, while Van Swieten decided the 
fate of books bearing on medical science, and the Faculty of 
Law that of legal publications and perhaps also of those 
which were classified as history and general literature. 

Consulted by Maria Theresa, the Prefect of the Library 
declared his reluctance to leave even the theological books to 
the mercy of the Jesuits. These publications might, he sug- 
gested, be submitted to the Archbishop. As for the philo- 
sophical works, he proposed to take them in hand himself as 
well as the medical literature. The Empress conceded the 
latter point, but she could not see her way to dissociate the 
Jesuits from the Censorship Commission. A representative 
of their Order was to be attached to each of its divisions. 



210 MARIA THERESA 

But Van Swieten gained his object in the end by a royal 
decree that when any one of these Jesuits retired, his place 
was not to be taken by another. 

It cannot be argued that a reign of tolerance began when, 
a year or two later, Van Swieten himself became President! 
of the Commission. Von Arneth hazards a guess that 
in waging war on such writers as Voltaire, Rousseau, 
Machiavelli, or Fielding, the trend of whose works was 
generally known, he was seeking cover for the circulation 
of the scientific and philosophical treatises which were 
anathema to the Jesuits. 

There is an amusing correspondence between the Empress 
and her doctor about an unnamed Bavarian periodical. 
It contained humorous sketches of various types of 
society, and Van Swieten adjudged it harmless. Not so 
Maria Theresa. " For my part," she says, " I dislike every- 
thing that goes by the name of irony, and consider it in- 
compatible with love of our neighbour. Why should any 
one waste time in reading or writing such things? Our 
language does not lend itself to this kind of light jesting. 
The proximity of Bavaria is quite enough to make me 
suspicious. Under the cloak of tales from Bavaria, attempts 
might easily be made to ridicule the people of this country, 
and thalt I would never tolerate." 

That Van Swieten was not singular in his dislike of Jesuit 
methods is evident from the complete suppression of the 
Society within twenty years of the opening of the new 
University of Vienna. But here and there it still produced 
men worthy of its great missionary and scholastic tradi- 
tion. Both elements were represented by Father Ignatius 
Parhamer, who, about 1750, became Director of the chief 
Orphan Asylum in Vienna. No easy task awaited him, for 
his predecessor had been faithless to his charge. Rumours 
of neglect and ill-treatment of the orphans reached the 
ears of the Mother of the people, and she appointed a com- 
mission of inquiry. The report told of three hundred boys 
huddled together in unspeakable conditions and with no 
teaching worth mentioning. Maria Theresa's wrath was 
fully justified, inasmuch as the Director had not been short 
of funds. She shrank from inflicting public disgrace on 
a dignitary of the church, so he was left with a seat on 



EDUCATIONAL REFORMS 211 

the Council, but superseded in all responsibility by the Jesuit 
Father whose preaching tours had made his name a house- 
hold word in every province of Austria. He had a special 
gift of adapting his teaching to children, and under his 
genial administration a new life began for the hapless boys. 
He found them enfeebled in body and cowed in spirit, 
but he had already discovered that both boys and girls 
took kindly to a mixture of physical and spiritual drill. The 
orphans were mainly sons of soldiers, so they responded the 
more readily when the new Director formed them into 
regiments and put them through military exercises. Uni- 
forms were procured and weapons of sorts. Music was 
encouraged and the company had its own band. At stated 
seasons Parhamer's full-fledged boys' brigade, with drums 
beating and flags flying, was marched to Schonbrunn to be 
reviewed by the delighted Empress. At the age of six- 
teen the lads were given their choice of entering the army 
or learning a trade. 



CHAPTER XX 

MUSIC AND MORALS 

IN Schiller's ballad, Der Graf von Hapsburg, Rudolf I 
asserts that the joy of his coronation feast would be 
incomplete if no minstrel were present to hymn the 
event. The love of melody was inherited by his descen- 
dants. As the handmaid of religion, music was never in 
any danger of being overlooked by the instructors of Ger- 
man youth. Luther made it an essential feature of the 
reformed Church. And " in all the towns throughout the 
Empire," writes Dr. Burney, 1 " where the Jesuits have a 
church or a college, young persons are taught to play upon 
musical instruments and to sing." As he sailed down the 
Danube to Vienna this historian of music remarked that 
" the soldiers and almost all the young people who were 
walking by the waterside were frequently singing, and never 
in less than two parts," 2 In an epoch when Jesuit teachers 
ignored the branches of learning most likely to stimulate 
independent thought, their pupils, Imperial and otherwise, 
devoted themselves with all the more zest to the one form 
of culture they were trained to appreciate. Both Leopold I 
and Charles VI had a thorough knowledge of theoretical 
and practical music. Both composed and both were skilled 
performers — Leopold on the violoncello and his son on 
the harpsichord. 

" The sacred music of the period was indigenous, and 
made to conform to types that had their source within 
Germany itself, but in all forms of secular music, whether 
in the opera or in instrumental work, the patterns were 
set by the Italians." 3 The emperors from Ferdinand II to 

1 The father of Fanny Burney. 

2 The Prese?it State of Music in Ger?iiany, published in 1773. 

3 J. A. Fuller Maitland, The Age of Bach and Handel (Oxford History of 
Music). 



MUSIC AND MORALS 213 

Charles VI showed a marked preference for Italian words 
and music. At the same time v this partiality did not, as in 
England, lead to the underrating of native talent. Wagen- 
seil, a German and Maria Theresa's instructor in instru- 
mental music, was esteemed as a composer for the harpsi- 
chord. When the Italian, Caldara, settled in Vienna, at 
the invitation of Charles VI, he was only appointed assis- 
tant- chapelmaster. The chapelmaster was Fux, author of 
that famous treatise on counterpoint, Gradus ad Parnassum. 
But whatever the nationality of the musicians, the operas, 
odes, and dramatic poems, which the Court composers set 
to music, were all written in Italian by such poets as 
Conti, Zeno and, after 1730, by the illustrious Metastasio. 

Zeno was the librettist and Caldara the composer of the 
opera, Eurystheus, which, in 1724, celebrated in the inner 
circle of the Court the birth of Charles VI's third, short- 
lived daughter, Maria Amelia. " It was exhibited with 
uncommon magnificence and splendour. The performers 
were all persons of high rank, and His Imperial Majesty 
himself accompanied the voices on the harpsichord, as prin- 
cipal director. . . . The Archduchess Maria Theresa sung 
the principal part on the stage in this drama." 1 Though 
only seven years old, she had begun to study with Caldara. 
Half a century afterwards when the renowned vocalist, 
Faustina Bordogni, 2 claimed to be the first or oldest virtuosa 
in Europe, the Empress laughingly replied that she herself 
had a better title to be so described, for her father had 
brought her on the Court stage at Vienna when she was 
only five, and made her sing a song. 

A letter written by Metastasio gives a delightful glimpse 
of Maria Theresa and her sister, aged respectively eighteen 
and seventeen, rehearsing an ode in dramatic form for 
their mother's birthday. " I should not have believed it 
possible," says the poet who was coaching the princesses, 
" to meet with such attention, docility, patience, and grati- 
tude. They have acted and sung like angels, and it was 
truly sacrilege that the whole world was not permitted to 
admire them, for the festival was extremely private." With 



1 Burney, A General History of Music. 

2 The wife of Hasse, the composer. 



2i 4 MARIA THERESA 

characteristic thoughtfulness Maria Theresa insisted that the 
laureate should be seated during the lengthy instructions. 

As Queen of Hungary, she had little time for the exercise 
of her musical gifts. After she became Empress, she virtu- 
ally ceased to take part in stage performances, though she 
did not altogether neglect her singing. Listening to music 
was always a delight to her. " If the Queen has any 
pleasure in life," said Sir Thomas Robinson, "it is in 
music. She certainly fatigues her mind enough for the 
public, to deserve this simple means of relaxation." Not 
only the Empress, but the whole Imperial Family was musi- 
cal. The Emperor's long association with the Austrian 
Court had made him also something of an expert, and he 
could enter fully into his wife's enjoyment of the art in 
which she was so proficient. She gave particular attention 
to the musical education of her children. Names as 
eminent as that of Gluck appear upon their list of teachers. 
The pupils were delightfully responsive. Like their mother 
they were early accustomed to take part in concerted music 
and operettas. Metastasio was still the poet-laureate. When 
commissioned to furnish a libretto for any particular cele- 
bration, he had the facility of sitting down and reeling it 
off, " just as he would transcribe a poem written by any 
one else." His sole perplexity was to find suitable sub- 
jects. Classical legend presented difficulties when parts 
were to be taken by Archduchesses " who were not allowed 
to exhibit their chaste limbs." Four of them appeared in 
the opera of Egeria, which was set to music by Hasse. 
" A person of great distinction, who had been present, told 
me," says Dr. Burney, " that they were extremely beauti- 
ful, sung and acted very well for princesses, and the Arch- 
duke Leopold danced in the character of Cupid." The 
older members of the Imperial Family could always be 
depended upon for instrumental quartets. Joseph played 
the 'cello, Charles the violin, their sisters Marianne and 
Marie the clavier. Joseph was the most musical member 
of the group. He performed very well himself, and " he 
had sufficient taste and judgment to hear, understand, and 
receive delight from others." 

On these festive occasions Court etiquette generally re- 
stricted the audience to " persons of very great distinc- 



MUSIC AND MORALS 215 

tion." But the line between them and mortals of lesser 
rank was not drawn with the same rigour as in the days of 
Charles VI. Though Maria Theresa's chief intercourse was 
with the old patrician families, she never felt tied down to 
their society, nor did she reserve for them her friendship. 
Any one who had rendered conspicuous service to herself 
or to the State might receive an invitation to be present at 
some performance primarily intended for the exclusive 
circle. Thus to Councillor von Doblhoff, an eminent civil 
servant, the Empress addressed the following friendly little 
message: " If you would like to see the comedy in which 
my children are dancing, come to my ante-room in the 
Burg at five o'clock." 

The music of her youth was always the music of Maria 
Theresa's choice. Towards the end of her reign she writes 
to an Italian correspondent: " I was touched by what you 
say of Reutter's requiem. It is my own favourite amongst 
his compositions. ... As for dramatic music, I confess 
that I would rather have the slightest Italian thing than 
all the works of our composers, Gaisman, Gluck, and others. 
For instrumental music we have a certain Haydn who has 
good ideas, but he is just beginning to be known." 

This is faint praise for the men who linked the Theresian 
epoch to the Golden Age of music. Christopher Wilibald 
Gluck (1714-87), the great reformer of dramatico -musi- 
cal art, was the son of a forester employed on the Bohemian 
estate of Prince Lobkowitz. A childhood spent in close 
contact with wild nature was followed by education at the 
nearest gymnasium. Gluck's schooling resulted in fami- 
liarity with classical myths, and considerable knowledge of 
singing and playing on the violin and 'cello. Like other 
great nobles, Lobkowitz had his private company of picked 
musicians. In the train of the Prince, the forester's son 
arrived in Vienna, where he came under the spell of Fux 
and Caldara. He 'had the good fortune to attract the interest 
of a Lombard dignitary, Prince Melzi, who fulfilled the 
young musician's most fervent desire by taking him to 
Italy and giving him opportunities of studying the accepted 
methods of composition. Gluck was twenty-seven when 
he scored a first success at Milan with his opera, Artax- 
erxes. Of this and other works of his first period the 



216 MARIA THERESA 

most that can be said is that they were good of their kind. 
He had taken as his model the operas of Porpora, Hasse, 
and Caldara, whose chief aim, was to exhibit the dexterity 
of popular singers, generally their own pupils. Thus the 
opera had degenerated into " a mere string of arias con- 
nected by recitative, with an occasional duet and a chorus 
to bring down the curtain at the end of the work. Only 
the man was needed who should sweep the mass of in- 
sincerity from the stage and replace it by a purer ideal." 1 
Twenty years after the first 1 performance of Artaxerxes, the 
production of Gluck 's Orpheus and Eurydice at the Court 
theatre of Vienna announced the arrival of the reformer. 

By slow degrees he realized the task that had been 
committed to him. The fame achieved in Italy brought 
him an invitation to England. But London under the 
domination of Handel had no enthusiasm for Gluck. We 
hear of him in Hamburg and in Dresden before his return 
to Vienna in 1748, the year of the proclamation of peace 
and the adoption of the Ten Years Recess, with all its 
possibilities of better government. Fux and Caldara were 
dead, and Gluck was presently numbered amongst the com- 
posers by whom Metastasio's dramatic poetry was set to 
music. It was the position he had dreamed of in his youth, 
but he was no longer satisfied to proceed on the old lines. 
The spirit of reform was in the air ; and both his love of 
what was natural and his love of art rebelled against the 
vicious system of making music subordinate to the glorifica- 
tion of operatic "stars." In Orpheus and Eurydice (1762) 
and Alceste (1767) he made his first strong protest, and 
gave his first illustrations of a more excellent way. His 
later triumphs were achieved in Paris, but he eventually, 
returned to Austria. " I had the good fortune," writes Dr. 
Burney from Vienna, " to meet with the Chevalier Gluck, 
one of the most extraordinary geniuses of this or perhaps 
of any age or nation." He was certainly "the first com- 
poser who treated the opera as an integral whole, the first 
to make the overture in some sort a reflection of the 
drama which it preceded, and he used orchestral effects 
as a means of expressing the passion of his characters in 

1 R. A. Streatfeild, The Opera. 




GLUCK 

FROM THE PORTRAIT BY F. S. DUPLESSIS 



MUSIC AND MORALS 217 

a way that had not been dreamed of before. His banish- 
ment of recitative arias, and his restoration of the chorus 
to its proper place in the drama were innovations of vast 
importance to the history of opera, but the chief strength 
of the influence which he exerted upon subsequent music 
lay in his power of suffusing each of his operas in an 
atmosphere special to itself." 1 

Reutter, the composer of the requiem commended by 
Maria Theresa, succeeded Fux as Imperial Chapelmaster. 
He was also choirmaster of St. Stephen's Cathedral. 
Amongst his pupils was Joseph Haydn (1732- 1809), 
" commonly styled the father of the symphony," though 
no form of composition was without attraction for him. It 
is difficult to realize that works so numerous, so varied, 
and so uniformly excellent as those of Haydn were the pro- 
duct of a single lifetime. 

During a visit to the Hungarian Prince Esterhazy, in 
1773, Maria Theresa took occasion to say a word of praise 
to Haydn, who had composed the music of the opera given 
in her honour, and conducted the performance. She ex- 
pressed a conviction of having seen him before, without 
being able to recall the circumstances. " The last time 
Your Majesty was pleased to take notice of me," said 
Haydn, " you ordered me a good thrashing." " That does 
not sound like me," rejoined the Empress. " How did it 
happen?" Then Haydn told of a Whitsuntide when, with 
other pupils of Reutter, he had been brought to Schon- 
brunn to sing in the chapel. Between the services the 
boys took to clambering over the scaffolding of the new 
wings of the palace. The Empress caught sight of them, 
and sent to forbid the dangerous sport. But the attraction of 
the scaffolding was irresistible. On the following day the 
choir boys were again risking their n jks. When Maria 
Theresa expostulated with Reutter, his surmise that the ring- 
leader was " that young scamp Joseph Haydn," led to the 
suggestion of the rod as an incentive to memory. 

In the days of the Empress -Queen, Vienna could only 
boast of two play-houses. The Burg, or Court, theatre 
served indifferently for the production of operas and French 

1 Streatfeild, The Opera. 



218 MARIA THERESA 

plays. German plays could be witnessed in the National 
Theatre. Neither house of entertainment could be described 
as popular. According to Dr. Burney, " the diversions 
of the common people were such as seem hardly fit for a 
civilized and polished nation to allow: particularly the com- 
bats, as they are called, or baiting of wild beasts." He 
proceeds to translate a handbill such as was distributed 
through, the streets every Sunday and festival. 

" This day, by Imperial licence, in the great amphitheatre 
at five o'clock will begin the following diversions: First, 
a wild Hungarian Ox, in full fire, i.e. with fire under his 
tail and crackers fastened to his ears, horns, and other 
parts of his body, will be set upon by dogs! " Then after 
an orgy of cruelty to animals — dogs, boars, and wolves — 
the handbill finally promises that " a furious and hungry 
bear, which has had no food for eight days, will attack a 
young wild bull and eat him up alive on the spot. If he 
is unable to complete the business, a wolf will be ready to 
help him! " 

Without substituting other forms of entertainment it 
would scarcely have been politic to deprive the populace 
of their accustomed pleasures, however revolting. But the 
reign of Maria Theresa was a gradual preparation for better 
things. Her interpretation of benevolent despotism included 
not only measures for the increase of material well-being, 
but a strong endeavour to raise the whole standard of 
national life. To her it would have seemed reprehensible 
in the extreme to accept the title of Mother of the people 
without its implication of responsibility. She was pro- 
foundly grateful to the members of her larger family for 
the way in which they had stood by her in the past. She 
foresaw that their loyalty and endurance would be put to 
further proof in days to come, and it grieved her profoundly 
that those who held the future in the hollow of their handsi 
were for the most part in pitiful circumstances — victims of 
ignorance and superstition, of poverty and vice. Her gener- 
ous support of education, and of institutions for the relief 
of the sick, by no means exhausted her efforts to check 
the evils which were sapping the vitality of her subjects. 

The social reforms which she instituted in Vienna con- 
stituted the basis of the system of Poor Law administration 



MUSIC AND MORALS 219 

introduced in the reign of her successor. " Ruthless she 
might be in her dealings with the rich, but Maria Theresa 
was always merciful towards the poor. Even in the midst 
of her struggle for her crown, she found time to busy, 
herself with their concerns, for she held, as the ordinances 
she issued prove clearly, strong views as to the way they 
ought to be treated, views well in advance, not only of her 
own day, but in some respects of ours. For instance, 
when she became Queen, it was the custom in Vienna to 
lodge the poor whom the town supported all together in 
the Spitals, no matter whether they were old or young, 
feeble or strong, keen-witted, half-witted or with no wits 
at all. This arrangement she pronounced scandalous, and 
declared it must be altered. Children must not be allowed 
to live in the same house as worthless persons lest, perverted 
by their evil example, they should fall into lazy, disreput- 
able ways. She called upon the authorities to remove into 
orphanages all the boys and girls who were in the Spitals. 
She called upon them also to remove all the idiots and 
insane persons who were there, lest they should cause dis- 
comfort to the sick. What is more notable still, she insisted 
that the more worthy should be lodged quite apart from 
the less worthy; and that specially good care should be 
taken of such of them as were old." 1 

While seeing that the municipal authorities did their 
duty, she never relaxed her own efforts to relieve the in- 
dividual cases of distress that came under her notice. Her 
unstinted charity and kindly helpfulness gave rise to stories 
of apocryphal character. Some of them indicate that she 
was looked upon as a sort of visible Madonna — a strong, 
purposeful, golden-haired Madonna, like that of Holbein, 2 
who could take a sick child into her arms and miraculously 
restore it to health. 

Maria Theresa's attempts to deal with the problems of 
ignorance and poverty represent the nobler aspect of 
benevolent despotism. Its drawbacks find ample illustra- 
tion in her methods of counteracting moral impurity. As a 
social reformer she felt bound to take cognizance of a 
matter affecting so profoundly the welfare of the com- 

1 Edith Sellers, Foreign Solutions of Poor Law Problems. 

2 The Madonna of the Meyer family at Darmstadt. 



220 MARIA THERESA 

munity. In the country at large she realized that the 
prevalent coarseness of speech and grossness of conduct 
could only be gradually overcome; but she never questioned 
her own ability to cleanse the Augean stables of Vienna. 

That she did not exaggerate their foulness is evident 
from the many witnesses who corroborate the outspoken 
statements of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Lady Mary 
also indicates some of the predisposing causes — overcrowd- 
ing, lack of elevating interests, and the influence of Oriental 
customs. For generations these factors of immorality had 
been at work. We may pass over the assertion of ;£neas 
Sylvius in the fifteenth century that Vienna deserved |the 
fate of Sodom and Gomorrah; for the future pope never 
forgave the Austrian Court and capital their failure to accept 
him at his own valuation. But it is clear that in the age 
of Shakespeare Vienna was notorious for moral obliquity. 
When the play scene in Hamlet agitates the guilty king:, 
his stepson assures him that it is but " the image of a 
murther done in Vienna." Again, in the drama by Whet- 
stone which served as the foundation of Measure for 
Measure, the scene is laid vaguely in Hungary. Shake- 
speare, however, places it definitely in Vienna. 

Of Maria Theresa, with her love of decorum and pos- 
session of autocratic power, it might have been foretold 
that she would fall into the error of the fictitious governor 
of Vienna and seek to amend the morals of the citizens 
by outward repression. Not that she underrated the value 
of personal influence. To the daughter who became Queen 
of Naples she wrote: "It is our duty to remember that a 
word in season or a grave look will silence those who 
indulge in unlicensed speech, and have an excellent general 
effect." It certainly made for restraint when it was under- 
stood that moral lapses were an insuperable bar to the 
favour of the Empress. As her husband did not see eye 
to eye with her on this subject, she chose to regard him as 
a personage to whom ordinary rules did not apply. Other 
members of her environment had to take heed to their ways 
if they desired to retain any position at Court. 

But it was not the salutary effect of Maria Theresa's 
personal example that caused her contemporaries to occupy 
themselves so extensively with her crusade against social 



MUSIC AND MORALS 221 

impurity. It was the report that she had founded an in- 
quisitorial tribunal known as the Chastity Commission. 

Considering the number of writers who have described, 
denounced, or ridiculed the peculiar institution, it was natur- 
ally expected that the Austrian archives would furnish full 
particulars of its origin and functions. But prolonged re- 
search has yielded only a single authoritative reference, 1 
showing it to have been a temporary adjunct to the police 
department of Lower Austria. Even in her letters to the 
heads of this department Maria Theresa seldom touches 
on the question of public morals, though there can be no 
doubt that if she did not instigate she was in full sym- 
pathy with the forcible suppression of vice and the de- 
portation of transgressors of the new regulations, with all 
the attendant prying and spying. 

It is significant that Frederick of Prussia is frequently 
quoted as the authority for details concerning the Empress- 
Queen's " College of Chastity." Personalities were the 
order of the day. And since his opponent's character 
showed no other opening for scandalous innuendo, it was 
always possible to pounce on her reputation as a martinet. 
At its best her attitude was alleged to be due to jealousy 
of her husband, at its worst to a weakness for salacious 
gossip. Time disproved both accusations. 

Without any attribution of unworthy motives it must 
be admitted that her zeal for morality was often indistin- 
guishable from officiousness and unwarrantable interference 
with the liberty of the subject. But it is one thing to say 
that she would have done infinitely more good by simply 
trusting to the force of her example, and quite another 
thing to say she did no good at all. Over against Lady, 
Mary's picture of Vienna, in the reign of her predecessor, 
we can place the description of Dr. John Moore, towards 
the end of her own reign. " I can imagine," he says, " no 
city in Europe where a young gentleman would see fewer 
examples, or have fewer opportunities of deep gaming, 
open profligacy, or gross debauchery than in Vienna." This 
is a great testimony to the uplifting influence of the 
Empress-Queen. 

1 Von Arneth, Vol. IX, p. 399. 



CHAPTER XXI 

MARIA THERESA AND KAUNITZ— THE PROPOSED 
ALLIANCE BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND FRANCE 

" "1% /W'Y enemies will give me better conditions of peace 
\ /I than my friends," was Maria Theresa's signifi- 
X. V JL cant remark during a stormy interview with 
Robinson in the spring of 1748. Her aims and those of her 
Allies had never been identical. Sometimes they approxi- 
mated, and all went well. More often they diverged, and 
there were bickerings and recriminations. She signed the 
peace treaty under protest, and the ink was hardly dry ere 
she was discussing her course in the next outbreak of 
war. She requested the members of the Conference to 
submit to her in writing their views on the political situa- 
tion, with special reference to the question whether or not 
the existing system of alliances should be continued. There 
was general condemnation of the action of the Sea Powers 
in obliging Austria to make peace at an unpropitious mo- 
ment. Still the majority of the Ministers declared them- 
selves unable to recommend any change in the system which 
had virtually been in force for two hundred years. In 
more emphatic terms the Emperor also expressed his re- 
pugnance to a break with the past. A minority, however, 
shared the opinion of their Sovereign, that the prevailing 
system could only be looked upon as conditional, and that 
if it were prolonged it must be on a basis more favourable 
to Austria. 

The most influential advocate of a new departure was 
Count Kaunitz, whose services in the Netherlands had been 
rewarded by admission to the Conference. " His proposals 
were based on the central point that the rise of Prussia 
had revolutionized the balance of power in Europe. Prussia 
was now the arch-enemy of Austria, and must be resisted ; 




WENZEL ANTON VON KAUNITZ 



MARIA THERESA AND KAUNITZ 223 

and Silesia, whence Frederick could strike a blow at the 
very heart of the monarchy, must be retaken. As for the 
old allies, England and Holland, it was evident that they, 
had no longer the interests of Austria at heart. England 
had even forced her to cede Silesia and assent to the 
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. In any future war the Maritime 
Powers were not unlikely to join Prussia, the young and 
Protestant country. Russia, indeed, was still bound to Aus- 
tria; but palace revolutions and constant changes in the 
order of succession made it impossible to depend upon 
Russian support." 1 " Kaunitz therefore boldly proposed 
to win the alliance of France, and to secure, if not indeed 
her assistance, at any rate her neutrality in the event of 
another Silesian war. The price which he proposed to 
pay was one which could be no real loss to Austria, the 
cession of the Netherlands to Don Philip, son-in-law of 
Louis XV, in exchange for his Italian Duchies." 

" For a revolution so radical in her foreign relations 
Maria Theresa was hardly prepared, though more than once, 
while the war was in progress, she had attempted to effect 
a reconciliation with France. . . . While favouring Kau- 
nitz 's proposal as a possible alternative, she looked upon 
it mainly as a means of bringing pressure to bear on Eng- 
land in the adjustment of the differences which threatened 
to sever the old alliance. At the same time she thought it 
well to try and promote more friendly relations with the 
Bourbons, and with that object Kaunitz was sent to Paris 
as Ambassador in 1750." 2 During his three years' resi- 
dence there, he strove to the utmost of his capacity to pave 
the way for an alliance such as he had recommended to 
the Empress. He was disappointed in his hope of effecting 
a breach in the political friendship between France and 
Prussia. But he succeeded, as no other Austrian ambassador 
had ever done, in becoming a persona grata at the Court of 
Versailles. 

Wherever he went he excited interest and remark. In 
1750 3 his age was thirty-nine, but his slender build and 

1 A. H. Johnson, The Age of the Enlightened Despot, pp. 170-171. 

2 A History of Germany, 1715-1815, pp. 183-184. 

3 In the portrait reproduced as an illustration the letters on the table are 
addressed " Prince Kaunitz." It is therefore of later date than 1762. 



224 MARIA THERESA 

fair complexion gave him the look of a much younger 
man. It was difficult to reconcile his juvenile appearance 
with his reputation as a diplomatist and administrator. More 
surprising still to his new associates were his easy, graceful 
carriage, his ready speech and nimble wit. They had 
been wont to gibe at Teutonic stiffness and backwardness 
in the fine art of conversation, yet here was a German as 
skilled as themselves in all that pertained to the decora- 
tive side of life. Rumour declared that he took three 
hours to dress, w,i,th four mirrors to assist the process ; but 
an exaggerated attention to outward adornment was scarcely 
a fault in the days of the dandies. 

According to Frederick the Great, Kaunitz was " as frivo- 
lous in his tastes as he was profound in his knowledge of 
affairs." One would infer that the frivolity, was largely 
assumed for the purpose of putting people off their guard. 
When the Count was laboriously accumulating and sifting 
information as to the actual position and policy of the 
Italian States, he seemed to the British envoy in Florence 
a mere collector of bric-a-brac, " a snapper up of un- 
considered trifles," to whom a valuable snuff-box should 
in no wise be entrusted. 1 Needless to say, it was a very 
different Kaunitz who set himself to gain the goodwill of 
Loujs XV, and to create, in the very heart of France, a 
party in favour of alliance with Austria. 

He might well come to think that the world was a 
stage, seeing that he was cast for a part before he was 
out of the cradle. There was no question as to the future 
of the sickly infant who was also the fifth son of Count 
Max Ulric von Kaunitz, a deputy- governor of Moravia, mar- 
ried to the heiress of the ancient House of Rietberg. A 
benefice was bespoken for the young Wenzel, and at the 
age of twelve he was transferred to the custody of his uncle, 
the Bishop of Miinster. The boy's aptitude for learning 
and ambition to excel received every encouragement. At 
sixteen he was a good-looking, accomplished, egotistical 
young cleric, and! a canon of Miinster Cathedral. 

Suddenly his whole outlook on life was changed. Two 
of his brothers are said to have perished in a skirmish 

1 Doran, " Mann " and Manners at the Court of Florence. 



MARIA THERESA AND KAUNITZ 225 

with the Turks. One after another the survivors died of 
smallpox. A papal dispensation absolved Wenzel from his 
vow of celibacy. As heir to the family estates, he joined 
his parent's in Vienna. 

An ecclesiastical upbringing was no drawback to one 
who was now expected to make his mark as a diplomatist, 
but it had to be supplemented by legal training. Dis- 
satisfied, apparently, with the teaching at Vienna, Kaunitz 
betook himself first to Leipzig and then to Leyden, where 
he graduated as Doctor of both Roman and Canon Law. 
A leisurely tour through England, France, Italy, and the 
western states of Germany, was the final stage of a more 
liberal education than that of the average young noble- 
man who aspired to the service of the State. 

During the closing years of the reign of Charles VI 
Kaunitz was Imperial Envoy to the Diet at Ratisbon. His 
marriage with a daughter of the influential family of Star- 
hemberg brought him more prominently before the public. 
His ability came to be generally recognized. He was no 
stranger to Maria Theresa when, within a few months of 
her accession, he was charged with his first mission to Italy. 1 

His dispatches were a revelation to the young monarch. 
She never cavilled at their length, so entranced was she 
with the writer's fresh, independent outlook, His suggestive- 
ness when he touched on the European situation, and his 
power of detecting in a mass of detail the clue to some 
enigma of Italian statecraft. It seemed to the Queen that 
the envoy had much of her own enthusiastic patriotism. 
Certainly he shared her lack of slavish regard for prece- 
dent. Baffled by the timidity and conservatism of her old 
counsellors, she was overjoyed to discover at last a kindred 
political spirit. 

In recent times Maria Theresa's admiration for Kaunitz 
and willingness to be guided by his advice, have been 
described as something of the nature of an obsession. In 
her own da\ her attitude was justified by the general con- 
sensus of opinion. It was indeed no ordinary politician 
who surmounted with equal ease the difficulties which 
beset him at Turin, Brussels, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Paris. 

1 See pagfe 87. 
15 



226 MARIA THERESA 

Wherever his lot was cast, his great and varied talents 
created a profound impression. "Adherents, opponents, and 
men of no party joined in the chorus of approbation, "r This 
was the Kaunitz who fascinated Maria Theresa, and for 
whose sake she tolerated a very different manifestation of 
personality. 

Depreciatory statements concerning one whose place is 
amongst the foremost statesmen of his generation can only 
be met by the inquiry, Which Kaunitz? Is it the politician 
of European renown? Or the man who, in spite of papal 
dispensation and concern for children early left mother- 
less, might conceivably be mistaken for a flippant, foppish, 
loose-living eighteenth-century abb6? 

Maria Theresa's determination to offer him the highest 
position in the Ministry was generally applauded. Ac- 
cording to a contemporary, " people were all of one mind. 
There was nobody so entirely fitted as Kaunitz for the office 
of State Chancellor," which included the control of foreign 
affairs. 

Since 1742 the post had been nominally occupied by 
Count Ulfeld. His actual vocation was to serve as the 
mouthpiece of Bartenstein, whose plebeian origin made 
him ineligible for ministerial rank. The plan worked 
admirably as long as Maria Theresa and the Secre- 
tary were in agreement on the question of foreign 
policy. When the former came under the influence of 
Kaunitz she began to revolve plans for getting rid of 
Ulfeld. Now and again she tried to broach the subject 
to Bartenstein, but was deterred by the Secretary's em- 
barrassing trick of summoning tears to his eyes. She 
shrank from anything that might savour of ingratitude to the 
counsellor recommended to her by her father, and who — 
for his own purposes, perhaps, but with infinite pains- 
taking — had shown her how to manipulate the reins of 
government. 

In 1752 the death of the Lord Chamberlain gave Maria 
Theresa an opportunity too valuable to be missed. Ulfeld 
was bribed to accept the vacant post, and the Chancellor- 
ship was offered to Kaunitz. He pleaded his indifferent 
health as a reason for declining. The Empress was not to 
be dissuaded. She knew that he was given to take morbid 



MARIA THERESA AND KAUNITZ 227 

views of his physical condition, and believed that added 
responsibility would counteract the tendency to valetudin- 
arianism. She also knew well that Kaunitz would never 
consent to share his authority. Bartenstein had to be de- 
prived of the office which gave him access to the springs 
of governmental policy. But in consideration of faithful 
and exceptional service he was enrolled as a member of 
the Conference, an honour hitherto reserved for the highest 
nobility. 

On New Year's Day, 1753, Kaunitz resigned his embassy. 
During his residence in Paris he had contrived to in- 
gratiate himself with Madame de Pompadour, and to pre- 
dispose her in favour of his plan of a diplomatic revolution. 
His work was' ably continued by his successor, Count Star- 
hemberg. 

The new Chancellor's arrival in Vienna " was expected 
by the Empress with the same impatience as Henry VIII 
looked for the return of Cranmer when he was tired of 
Wolsey." 1 She was no longer disinclined to consider the 
proposed alliance between France and Austria. George II 
had attempted to propitiate her by advocating the election 
of Archduke Joseph as King of the Romans. But the nego- 
tiations ended in failure and acute irritation on both sides. 
Another source of estrangement was the interference of 
the Maritime Powers with the Austrian government of the 
Netherlands. In striking contrast to all this was the friendly 
relationship which had been established between Austria 
and Spain. The two Powers guaranteed the existing terri- 
torial conditions in Italy by the Treaty of Aranjuez. A 
good understanding with one branch of the House of 
Bourbon increased the likelihood of ultimate cordiality with 
the other. Until that expectation became a certainty it 
would clearly be inexpedient to make a fresh effort for 
the recovery of the lost provinces. Kaunitz therefore gave 
it to be understood that he was directing his energies to- 
wards the maintenance of peace. 

1 Coxe, The House of Austria, Vol. Ill, p. 347. 



CHAPTER XXII 

OUTBREAK OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR— THE 
CHANGE OF ALLIANCES— THE BATTLES . OF 
PRAGUE AND KOLIN 



A 



POLITICAL cartoon of the year 1756 represents the 
Gallic cock with a lighted torch in its beak set- 
ting fire to the terrestrial globe. Germany is the 
point in contact with the torch, but the flames burst forth 
in North America. A reversion of this proceeding would be 
more in keeping with historical fact. 

The War of the Austrian Succession left the French 
and British colonists in America at daggers drawn. The 
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle made no attempt to obviate pos- 
sible causes of strife, so it was a mere question of time when 
the struggle for supremacy would be renewed. As it hap- 
pened, it was in the year 1754 that the torch which set 
nearly all Europe in a blaze was applied to the globe in 
the valley of the Ohio. At this date, " with the exception 
of Jamaica and a few West Indian islands, the English 
colonies were confined to a comparatively narrow strip be- 
tween the Alleghany Mountains and the Atlantic. To the 
north lay Canada, in the possession of the French, and to 
the south their colony of Louisiana, commanding the mouths 
of the Mississippi. It was the aim of the French more 
effectually to occupy the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, 
and thus to connect their colonies in the south with Canada. 
Had they succeeded in so doing the English would have 
been prevented from pushing westward, and North America, 
from the Alleghanies to the Pacific, might have belonged 
to France." 1 

When, therefore, the agents of a British trading com- 

1 A. H. Johnson, The Age of the Enlightened Despot, p. 172. 
228 



OUTBREAK OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 229 

pany and other enterprising Virginian and Pennsylvanian 
colonists began to establish themselves here and there on 
the Ohio, Duquesne, the Governor of Canada, elected to 
regard them as intruders. He attacked their settlements, 
drove them back across the mountains and, foreseeing re- 
prisals, built and manned the fort which was called by his 
name. 

The Virginians, indignant at the action of the French, 
sent against them a body of militia under Washington. 
The colonists were no match for the seasoned troops of 
Duquesne, but the home countries took up the quarrel. 
Diplomatic skill failed to effect any adjustment of French 
and British claims. Hostilities were frequent on both sides, 
yet the actual declaration of war was delayed till 1756. 

Louis XV had been slow to believe that there would be no 
peaceable termination of the American dispute. George II, 
fully anticipating war, had been nearly torn in twain by the 
conflicting demands of his kingdom and his electorate. 
Without the help of some continental Power he could not 
save Hanover from invasion by France or her ally, Prussia. 
Continental Powers were greedy for subsidies, and Eng- 
land protested that, with a maritime and colonial war on 
her hands, she could not be bled as heretofore for the 
benefit of a German principality. 

King George first proposed that Austria, still his osten- 
sible ally, should come to the rescue of Hanover, and also 
increase her forces in the Netherlands. Kaunitz refused 
to send a single soldier to the electorate. Neither would 
he consent to do very much for the Low Countries. " Aus- 
tria, indeed, no longer stood firm to the British alliance. 
She was ready to leave the Netherlands to their fate. She 
felt, and very rightly, as Holland did also, that the American 
question was not a matter of such concern to her as to 
justify involving herself in a war with France." 1 

Rebuffed by his ally, the distracted Elector-King in- 
voked the aid of Russia for his ancestral dominions. The 
Czarina Elizabeth, never loath to move her troops west- 
ward, promised immediate assistance. But the thing dis- 
pleased Frederick II. He had got wind of a scheme for 

1 A History of Germany, 77/5-/6x5, p. 187. 



2 3 o MARIA THERESA 

the dismemberment of Prussia, in which Russia was leagued 
with Austria and Saxony. He feared lest the Czarina should 
draw England into the coalition, and resolved that the 
friendship between her and his uncle should be nipped in 
the bud. Thus it came about that one of Frederick's 
sisters was presently on her way to Hanover to condole with 
the said uncle, and insinuate the possibility of his finding 
a protector for the electorate without going outside the 
family. 

George II took the hint and entered into negotiations 
with his nephew. The latter urged his French allies to 
consent to the neutralization of Hanover and devote their 
energies to the naval war. The issue of events showed 
that no saner advice could have been proffered. Its re- 
jection determined Frederick to block the advance of Russia 
by himself coming to terms with England. By the Conven- 
tion of Westminster (January, 1756) he undertook to shield 
Hanover from the French, while George II promised to 
abandon his design of using Russian troops for that pur- 
pose. England and Prussia also guaranteed the neutrality 
of Germany. 

" In the meantime France had dispatched an ambassador 
to Berlin, asking for a renewal of the old alliance. He 
was met by the news of the Convention. Frederick, indeed, 
attempted to show that his agreement with England was 
purely defensive." France had but to abstain from violating 
the German possessions of George II and she would be 
secure from Prussian attack. But French military circles 
were clamorous for continental warfare, and the French 
Government was not inclined to carry on a perilous naval 
struggle without assurance of support on the mainland. 
Frederick's next step might be a reconciliation with Maria 
Theresa. Then France, with a British fleet on her coasts 
and a European coalition at her frontiers, would find her- 
self between the devil and the deep sea. 

In her unlooked-for isolation Kaunitz perceived " a 
golden opportunity for the House of Austria." A few 
months earlier the irritating demands of England had fur- 
nished the Chancellor with plausible reasons for reviving 
the plan first mooted by him in 1749. This time he 
secured for it the unqualified approval of Maria Theresa. 



OUTBREAK OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 231 

As before, the Netherlands were to be used as a bait for 
obtaining French assistance in the recovery of Silesia and 
the partitioning of Prussia. In his instructions to Starhem- 
berg, the Ambassador to Versailles, Kaunitz did not minimize 
the obstacles in the way of his scheme. " A great Power," 
he says, " has to be convinced that the whole political 
system which it has hitherto pursued was directly opposed 
to its true interests." Louis XV and his Ministers saw. 
quite clearly that " France had much to gain by a change 
in her policy. In a war with England the Austrian alliance 
or neutrality would be valuable . . , and might lead to 
an entire or partial annexation of the Netherlands. But 
there was an underlying suspicion that the interests of 
Austria and France were not really compatible. For one 
thing, peace on the Continent would be of enormous ad- 
vantage to France, whereas Austria wanted to begin a 
European war." 1 The negotiations hung fire. Hence the 
exultation of Kaunitz when the Convention of Westminster 
made him master of the situation. The persuasive skill 
of Madame de Pompadour ensured enthusiasm for the Aus- 
trian alliance in her immediate environment. Louis XV, 
unable to discern any safer way out of his dilemma, sanc- 
tioned a resumption of the negotiations with Starhemberg. 
The result was the First Treaty of Versailles (May, 1756). 
It pledged Maria Theresa to neutrality in the Anglo-French 
war, and Louis XV to respect the Netherlands when striking 
at Hanover. Each party guaranteed the other's possessions 
in Europe. In case of an assault, not connected with the 
war already in progress, either ally might call upon the 
other for assistance to the extent of twenty-four thousand 
men. 

Before the new agreement was signed, Maria Theresa 
had received what Kaunitz describes as "a message of 
comfort and encouragement " from Russia. The Czarina, 
with a covetous eye on Frederick's Duchy of East Prussia, 
volunteered help for the recovery of Silesia. It was defi- 
nitely accepted in the Convention of St. Petersburg (Jan- 
uary, 1757). In the following May Louis XV, exasperated 
by Frederick's unexpected invasion of Saxony, concluded 

1 Hassall, The Balance of Power, p. 239. 



232 MARIA THERESA 

with Austria the Second Treaty of Versailles. He thereby 
withdrew his opposition to a partition of Prussia, undertook 
to pay Maria Theresa an annual subsidy, and to place a 
large army in the field. Thus Kaunitz gained his end. 
He had entirely revolutionized the political alliances of 
Europe. He had also completely overreached the flabby 
French diplomatists. It was preposterous that they should 
have procured for their Sovereign no greater advantage 
than the right to a section of the Netherlands, which, how- 
ever, was not to become valid until Silesia and Glatz had 
reverted to Austria. France had r enounced far more than 
the Prussian alliance. "Her time-honoured system of sup- 
porting a clientele of weak and small states for the purpose 
of restraining Austria and Russia had perforce to be aban- 
doned. Sweden and Poland were practically given up to 
Russia." 1 Subsequent happenings have shown that there 
was much in Kaunitz 's argument that Prussia was the real 
enemy, not only of Austria, but of France; and that in the 
new circumstances they were the true allies. Had France 
thrown her whole energy into the European War, it is 
barely conceivable that Prussia could have escaped par- 
tition. Timely concessions to England would have warded 
off the struggle in America. Louis XV ensured the fulfil- 
ment of his prophecy of "a deluge " in the reign of his 
successor when he decided to carry on war in both hemi- 
spheres. 2 

The whole history of modern Europe, North America, and 
India hinges on the events of the Seven Years' War that 
followed the diplomatic revolution. But inasmuch as it 
was not, like the War of the Austrian Succession, a main 
factor in the development of the character of Maria Theresa, 
it may be passed over briefly in a study of her personal life. 

The movements of the Austrian and Russian armies 
during the summer of 1756 convinced Frederick II that an 
advance on Prussia was imminent. His envoy at Vienna 
was instructed to submit to Maria Theresa a request for 
explanations. Her evasive reply determined the King to 
take the initiative. " This lady wants war," he remarked. 
" She shall have it." He went through the form of re- 

1 See Balance of Power, p. 242. 

3 See Age of the Enlightened Despot, p. 1S0. 



OUTBREAK OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 233 

questing the Elector - King of Saxony - Poland to grant 
a free passage through his dominions for the Prussian 
army on its way to Bohemia. But before any reply could 
be vouchsafed the Prussians had crossed the frontier and 
occupied the greater part of Saxony. When its ruler sent 
to expostulate and to propose neutrality, Frederick insisted 
that Augustus should side with him and permit the elec- 
toral troops to be incorporated with those of Prussia. "Good 
heavens," exclaimed the Saxon envoy, " no one on earth 
ever heard of such a demand! " "I think it is not with- 
out precedent," rejoined Frederick; "but if it were, you 
know that I pride myself on being original. These are 
my conditions." 

Augustus flatly refused to comply with them. In his 
fortress of Pirna he awaited help from Austria. Marshal 
Browne, with the army at Prague, hastened to the relief of 
the Elector, but was attacked by, Frederick at Lobositz, 
before he could come into touch with the Saxons. Both 
sides claimed a victory, but the advantage was with the 
Prussians. The Austrians fell back towards Prague, and 
the Elector was obliged to capitulate. He betook himself 
to Warsaw, his Polish capital, and his troops went to swell 
the ranks of the Prussian army. 

The invasion of Saxony was the first intimation to Europe 
that the curtain had risen on a new military drama. Poli- 
ticians with a near view of the stage were overwhelmed 
with requests from those in more remote positions for some 
clue to the bewildering movements of the chief actors. 
Why were they grouped in such a novel, not to say un- 
natural fashion? Why were they fighting without declara- 
tion of war? What conceivable connection was there be- 
tween Saxony and America? And so forth, and so on. In 
the general hubbub simple explanations were hooted down. 
Vociferous scandal-mongers had the only chance of reaching 
the ears of the groundlings. Some attributed all the mis- 
chief to the devilry of Frederick of Prussia. His caustic 
tongue had not spared the faults and foibles of Louis XV. 
and " the three petticoats," to quote His Majesty's polite 
reference to Maria Theresa, the Czarina, and Madame de 
Pompadour. He had himself to blame if they made 
common cause against him. Other voices ascribed the 



234 MARIA THERESA 

untoward outlook to the vindictive spirit of Maria Theresa. 
To avenge herself on Frederick she had gone all lengths. 
She had even entered into a personal correspondence with 
Madame de Pompadour. The letters which ensured for 
Austria the staunch support of the mistress of Louis XV 
were said to be couched in the most flattering terms. The 
daughter of the proud Habsburgs had so far forgotten her 
dignity as to address her correspondent as " cousin/' and 
even " sister." 

This unlikely story did not originate with King Fred- 
erick, but he certainly gave it wide currency by pretend- 
ing that he had intercepted a portion of the correspondence. 
Had such epistles verily fallen into his hands or been 
received by the Pompadour, it is unthinkable that they 
should neither have been exhibited nor preserved. In view 
of the fact that no trace of the incriminating documents 
has at any time been discovered, we may safely accept the 
assurance of Maria Theresa that she never stooped to the 
folly of writing them. Her disclaimer is contained in a letter 
to her relative, Electress Maria Antonia of Saxony, in Oc- 
tober, 1763. At that date it was desired to establish closer 
relations between Saxony and France. Success depended to 
some extent on the support of the Pompadour. The Elec- 
tress assumed that Maria Theresa could put her in touch 
with the influential Marquise. " You are much mistaken," 
replied the Empress, "if yc 1 believe that I have ever 
been mixed up with the Pompadour. She has not even 
been the intermediary of a letter (to Louis XV) from my- 
self or my Minister. My representatives have had to pay 
court to her, like other people, but there has never been 
the slightest intimacy." 

There was, on the contrary, a certain tardiness in acknow- 
ledging the services of the King's Favourite. The pro- 
posal that some valuable gift should be sent to her from 
Vienna was talked about for years before it took shape. 
One could wish, like Marie Antoinette in after days, that 
the presents had not included a portrait of the Empress; 
but this was the conventional acknowledgment of royal 
indebtedness, and the gift was designed to, gratify Louis 
XV, in whose presence it was offered by the Austrian 
Ambassador, quite as much as the recipient herself. 



OUTBREAK OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 235 

Starhemberg also undertook to forward to his Sovereign 
the autographic thanks of Madame de Pompadour. The 
letter, expressing doubt as to whether or not Her Majesty- 
will deign to receive it, and an overwhelming sense of 
obligation for Imperial recognition, certainly indicates a 
first attempt to approach the Empress directly. Kaunitz 
was concerned lest it should be incumbent on Maria Theresa 
to send a personal reply. She does not appear to have 
done so, and doubtless regarded the incident as closed. 
But it was to, the interest of her enemies to magnify it 
a thousandfold. The rumour of a correspondence between 
her and the mistress of Louis XV was revived at intervals 
— a correspondence for which the only adducible shred of 
evidence is one brief and formal note of thanks. 

The advantage to Maria Theresa of the new alliance soon 
became manifest. When Frederick overstepped her fron- 
tier in order to intercept Browne, she straightway called 
on the French King to fulfil his treaty obligations. Thus 
she was able to turn the tables on the intruder by placing 
him in a position as dangerous as her own had been in 
1 74 1. When the Emperor Francis persuaded the Imperial 
Diet to declare war on the King of Prussia as a disturber 
of the public peace, the latter realized that he would have 
to contend for the very existence of his kingdom with a 
coalition unprecedented in history. If it were once set in 
motion, " Kaunitz could launch battalions against Prussia 
from every point of the compass." The King's new allies, 
England and Hanover, watched his movements with bated 
breath. 

To drive him out of Saxony was a primary object with 
Maria Theresa. Her regret for his success at Lobositz was 
tempered by satisfaction that the army on which she had ex- 
pended endless toil and thought, had inflicted as much injury 
on the Prussian host as it had itself sustained. Marshal 
Browne had been within an ace of leading the troops to victory. 
Another half-Irish soldier, Lacy by name, had borne himself 
with such distinction that he was forthwith promoted from 
captain to general. It had been well for Austria if these 
capable and enthusiastic officers had been left in authority. 
With the return of spring Browne was preparing to take 
the offensive against Prussia. He had erected magazines 



236 MARIA THERESA 

and accumulated stores near the frontier of Bohemia to 
supply the army with which he proposed to recover Saxony. 
Suddenly all the heart was taken out of the' enterprise by 
the announcement that Prince Charles of Lorraine was to 
assume the supreme command. 

In the absence of any clear statement of fact, the circum- 
stances leading to this ill-omened appointment can only be 
conjectured. Von Arneth, the most accurate of historians, 
ransacked the Austrian archives in vain for documents that 
might throw light on the transaction, or even show how it 
appeared from the point of view, of Kaunitz. Supporters 
of Maria Theresa, not actually connected with the Court, 
did not flinch from expressing disapproval. It must, how- 
ever, be remembered that it was still customary for kings 
and princes to lead the armies of their countries. The 
Duke of Cumberland, son of George II, was at the head 
of the conglomerate force assembling in Hanover. The 
brothers and other relatives of King Frederick commanded 
divisions of the Prussian army. It was not perhaps realised 
that these scions of royalty were as sharply dealt with as 
officers of lesser degree if they failed to reach the King's 
standard of efficiency. He would have made short work 
of a general of the calibre of Prince Charles. 

It may be inferred that the latter 's reappearance as Com- 
mander-in-Chief was less the result of wilful blindness on 
the part of his sister-in-law than of her reluctance to nega- 
tive any project which her husband had at heart.' He was 
giving her valuable assistance in the financing of the war, 
and the impulse to render him some service in return was 
naturally strong. It is by no means unlikely that Francis 
constituted himself special pleader for the brother to whom 
he was warmly attached. Possibly he made the appoint- 
ment of Charles a condition of taking no part in the cam- 
paign himself. 

Though peculiarly unfitted to guide the decisions of his 
consort with regard to the leadership of the army, the 
Emperor was at one with her in her anxiety when, in the 
midst of the preparations for the next campaign, Arch- 
duke Joseph was seized with smallpox. It was a severe 
attack, and his mother suffered acutely in being separated 
from him. When at last Van Swieten reported that the 



OUTBREAK OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 237 

crisis was over and all the symptoms favourable, she re- 
plied, " Your note has given me the greatest consolation. 
My joy is in proportion to all I have undergone while 
my son's condition was critical. After God, I owe to your 
care, devotion, and skill the preservation of one so dear 
to me. I have been your debtor for many a long day. 
You must judge for yourself the extent of my gratitude 
for this new benefit. I have no words to express it. I only 
feel how glad I am. May God grant a happy convales- 
cence." 

Scarcely had Joseph begun to recover when his second 
sister, Marie Christine, showed symptoms of the disease. 
In her case it fortunately assumed a milder form, and she 
was not permanently marked. The other members of the 
family escaped infection, and Maria Theresa was free to 
concentrate her attention on the war when, in the month' 
of April, Frederick left his winter quarters in Dresden. 
In four separate columns his army crossed the Bohemian 
frontier with the view off converging on Prague. " This is 
a most unexpected movement, which greatly astonishes the 
world-theatre — pit, boxes, and gallery alike — and which is, 
above all, interesting on the stage itself, where the actors 
had been counting on a quite opposite set of entries and 
activities!" 1 Browne's dispositions, not ill-adapted for an 
advance, proved most unsatisfactory when Charles of Lor- 
raine, " that incarnation of indecision and undue caution," 
resolved to assume a defensive attitude. The magazines 
were seized by the Prussians, and supplies destined for 
Austrian consumption went to the support of their enemies. 
In vain did Browne implore the Prince to give battle 
before Frederick could unite his forces with those of Mar- 
shal Schwerin, who was approaching from Silesia. The 
new commander insisted on falling back on Prague. There, 
in a strong position, with a swamp in front and a hill 
guarding either flank, he chose to await the coming of 
Daun with reinforcements from Moravia. 

But Frederick saw that his one chance was to strike 
before Daun's arrival. By almost superhuman exertions 
he brought his army across the Elbe, effected a junction 

1 Carlyle, Frederick the Great, Book XVIII, Chap. I. 



238 MARIA THERESA 

with Schwerin, and attacked the formidable Austrian posi- 
tion. The issue of the day was often in doubt, the losses 
on both sides were appalling. Schwerin perished in an 
attempt to rally the infantry at a critical moment. But 
when Browne received the wound that eventually proved 
mortal, and Prince Charles was incapacitated by some form 
of illness, the leaderless Austrians were dislodged, driven 
back to the walls of the Bohemian capital, and cooped 
up there to the number of fifty thousand. 

" This is the famed Battle of Prague, fought May 6th, 
1 7 5 7> which sounded through all the world — and used to 
deafen us in drawing-rooms within man's memory. Results 
of it were: on the Prussian side, killed, wounded, and 
missing, 12,500; on the Austrian, 13,000 (prisoners in- 
cluded), with much war-gear gone the wrong road — and a 
very great humiliation and disappointment, though they 
had fought well. ' No longer the old Austrians by any 
means,' as Frederick sees." 1 

The news reached London late on May 19th. "It is 
on the stroke of eleven," writes Horace Walpole to his 
friend George Montagu, " and I have but time to tell you 
that the King of Prussia has gained the greatest victory, 
that ever was, except the Archangel Michael's. King Fred- 
erick has only demolished the Dragoness. He attacked 
her army, in a strong camp on the 6th . . . took it with 
all the tents, baggage, etc., and, they say, Prague since." 

Rumour was, however, at fault. The hapless city had 
not been taken, but it was blockaded for the third time 
since the accession of Maria Theresa. So frequent had been 
the scenes of carnage within and without its walls that the 
student of history needs no incentive of strange legend in 
order to picture " a midnight host of spectres pale be- 
leaguering the walls of Prague." 2 

The siege of 1757, one of the most destructive, was of 
mercifully brief duration. While it lasted the Empress was 
tortured with apprehension lest a garrison, threatened by 
hunger, should enter into some humiliating compact with 
the enemy and ruin the Austrian cause. By great good 

1 Carlyle, Frederick the Great, Book XVIII, Chap. II. 

2 Longfellow, The Beleaguered City. 



OUTBREAK OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 239 

luck her message to the pent-up officers was not intercepted. 
" I cannot too strongly impress on your minds/' she wrote, 
" that the troops will incur everlasting disgrace should 
they not effect what the French, in the last war, performed 
with far inferior numbers. The security of Bohemia, of 
my other hereditary dominions, and of the Empire itself, 
depends on a gallant defence and the preservation of 
Prague. The army under the command of Marshal Daun 
is daily strengthening, and will soon be in a condition to 
raise the siege." 1 

Leopold, Count Daun was on his way to join Prince 
Charles when he heard of the disaster. He halted to collect 
the fugitives and add them to his original corps. Not till 
he was strongly reinforced did he advance towards the 
Bohemian capital. At Kolin, on the Upper Elbe, he came 
into conflict with the Prussians, and overwhelmed them 
by superior numbers (June 1 8th, 1757). 

An encounter between the two armies had been expected 
at an earlier date. The result was awaited in Vienna with 
feverish impatience, for another Prussian victory would once 
more expose the city to imminent danger. When the 
morning of the 20th brought the announcement of victory, 
the citizens were frantic with delight. Daun's name was 
in every mouth. Daun had vanquished the hitherto in- 
vincible King, of Prussia. " Long live Daun ! " they shouted. 
" Long live Maria Theresa! " 

To none had the tidings brought such joy and relief as 
to the Empress, whose hopes had repeatedly been shattered 
since the opening of the campaign. She at once set out to 
congratulate Countess Daun. " Feasts were given, medals 
struck, and presents distributed." A military order of 
merit, the Theresenorden, was instituted. The officers who 
had distinguished themselves in the recent action were ad- 
mitted to its various grades. With his special decora- 
tion, Daun received an address from the Conference, to 
which, in her own handwriting, Her Majesty had added: 
" Before the whole army you have proved your right to 
membership of the Order of Theresa. You are the first 
to receive its grand cross." 

1 Quoted by Coxe, The House of Austria, Vol. Ill, p. 376. 



240 MARIA THERESA 

Frederick's defeat forced him to raise the siege of 
Prague. The released Austrians sallied forth in time to 
inflict severe loss on the retreating enemy; but they did 
not make the most of their chances. " It was a great 
misfortune for Austria that Prince Charles should have so 
far recovered his health as to be able to take command 
when his force united with that of Daun. ... A really 
vigorous pursuit ought to have clinched the success of 
Kolin by cutting off either the besiegers of Prague or the 
remnant of Frederick's army." Still it was a forlorn host 
that recrossed the Bohemian frontier. " At the end of 
August the Prussian King found himself in the same position 
as he had occupied in April, only with his most trusted 
lieutenant dead and his army nearly ruined." 1 It was a 
further blow to his hopes when the Duke of Cumberland 
was defeated by the French, who proceeded to occupy 
Hanover. Frederick was thus threatened with invasion from 
the west, at the very time when Silesia was exposed to. 
the Austrians, when also the Russians were becoming hostile 
on his eastern and the Swedes on his northern frontiers. 

1 A History of Germany, 1715-1815, pp. 212-213. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

POLITICAL CRICKET, OR THE LAST STAGES OF 
THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 

THE continental situation in the midsummer of 1757 
is cleverly touched off in a cartoon entitled The 
Cricket Players of Europe. 1 It illustrates con- 
temporary sport in so far as the players are provided with 
bats of the old-fashioned curved shape, while the stumps 
are two in number, and the score is kept by notching each 
run on a stick. 

In the political game, however, Frederick II has donned 
a complete suit of mail in order to keep up his wicket 
against Maria Theresa. Arrayed in royal robes, embroidered 
with eagles, she is about to bowl, but pauses to remark, 
" Now, sir, mind what you are about. I have a notch more 
than you." The King, preparing to stop the ball, retorts, 
" I don't mind your notch, madam, though I design to 
have a good stroke at you this time, so mind your eye. 
And (to Louis XV, who is fielding close to the Empress) 
Stand out of the way, monsieur. I design to send this ball 
to the She-Bear yonder." The Bear, otherwise Elizabeth 
of Russia, a stout woman in regal attire, runs towards 
Maria Theresa, crying, " I am coming to help you, madam. 
If you are tired, I will bowl for you." 

In the background stand Turkey and the umpires, who 
are the neutral Powers, Holland and Spain. In a corner 
of the field Saxony- Poland sits on the ground weeping and 
exclaiming, " I can play no more, I have had such a 
dam'd knock 1 ." > 

The scorers, probably the King of Sweden and the Duke 

1 Political and Personal Satires, Vol. XIII, No. 2506. The original has un- 
fortunately been coloured by hand, hence the blurred appearance of the figures. 

16 241 



242 MARIA THERESA 

of Brunswick, are also seated on the ground, holding their 
knives for the cutting of the tallies. Beside them are two 
upright figures, Francis I and George II. The former, 
speaking for the Empire, remarks, " Ah, boy, there was a 
time when I could play with the best of them." His com- 
panion's conmient is, " Ay, ay, never mind. I warrant 
I'll get some notches. And if I find the odds against, 
I'll hedge off. I can't say I like her bowling. She seems 
not to tire." 

Neither did her side lose when she yielded her place to 
the She-Bear, for Frederick's lieutenant in East Prussia 
was worsted by the Russian commander at Gross Jagerndorf. 
Hadik, the most prominent of the Hungarian generals, 
seized the moment of the King's discomfiture for a forced 
march on Berlin, where he exacted heavy tribute before 
he withdrew. 1 But at this point the luck turned. Before 
the wonderful year was at an end Frederick had scored 
two of his most notable successes by defeating the combined 
French and Imperial armies at Rossbach and the Austrians 
at Leuthen. The first victory dispersed the Imperial con- 
tingents and drove the French back to the Rhine. It set 
English bonfires blazing, and Pitt saw his way to "a con- 
quest of America in Germany " by hearty co-operation 
with the King of Prussia. The Hanoverian army, largely 
reinforced and taken into English pay, was placed under 
the command of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. His vigor- 
ous measures put a speedy end to the foreign occupation 
of Hanover, and transformed it into a barrier between 
France and Brandenburg. 

Frederick's triumph over the French made him the hero 
of Germans of every, political denomination, and Rossbach 
became the starting-point of the movement destined to 
culminate in national unity under the leadership of Prussia. 
To the King himself his victory was chiefly important be- 
cause it removed the impediment to a concentration of 
Prussian energy in Silesia. As he marched thither it seemed 
as if he were about to hurl himself on destruction. The 
Austrians were re-establishing themselves in the province, 
and had recently captured Breslau. In numbers they were 

1 This incident is popularly referred to as the Husarenritt. 



POLITICAL CRICKET 243 

nearly three to one of the Prussians. It ought to have 
been an easy task to overwhelm Frederick and gladden 
the heart of Maria Theresa by the restoration of " the 
fairest jewel in her crown." But alas for her cherished 
hopes ! The fatuous proposals of Charles of Lorraine pre- 
vailed over the more sagacious advice of Daun, and Fred- 
erick recovered not only Breslau, but wellnigh the whole 
of Silesia by his success at Leuthen. 

The grief of the Empress was mingled with bitter regret 
for disasters which ought to have been averted, and with 
mortification at being constrained to yield to the demand 
on all sides for the removal of Prince Charles. Perverse 
as ever, he ignored the hints that it would be well for him 
to resign. He would not even listen to the discreet advice: 
of the Emperor. It was a poor return for the benefits he 
had received from his sister-in-law to force upon her the 
disagreeable necessity of explicitly dispensing with his ser- 
vices. That she was able to do this without estranging 
the defaulter says much fo;r her tact and considerateness. 

" Dismayed for a moment by the calamity of Leuthen, 
she was soon busy with schemes for retrieving the failure 
of 1757. Vigorous measures were taken to increase and 
equip the broken army now rallying in Bohemia." 1 From 
the installation of Daun as Commander-in-Chief the happiest 
results were expected. To some extent they were attained, 
though long before the war was over it had become mani- 
fest that in Gideon Laudon, Austria had a general more 
worthy of being compared with Prince Eugene than her 
chosen leader. 

The descendant of an old Scottish family, Laudon was 
by profession a soldier of fortune, albeit with character- 
istics that made him nearer akin to the ideal knight- errant. 
In the Russian Army he served a lengthy apprenticeship 
to the art of war. He was subsequently induced to offer 
his services to the King of Prussia. But with his rugged 
exterior and diffident manner he was at a disadvantage 
amongst men who had the knack of commending themselves 
to a critical monarch. Thus the story of Louis XIV and 
Eugene was repeated. Unappreciated at Berlin, Laudon 
sought and obtained a commission in the Austrian Army, 

1 Germany, 1715-1815, p. 228. 



244 MARIA THERESA 

and Frederick ultimately discovered his most formidable 
antagonist in the man who had volunteered to fight on his 
side. 

When the hazardous game was resumed in the spring of 
1758, the more competent leadership of the Austrian army, 
told heavily against Frederick. Early in the campaign his 
endeavour to seize the Moravian town of Olmutz was foiled 
by the promptitude of Laudon; while in October he sus- 
tained a crushing defeat at Hochkirch, in Saxony. Daun 
monopolized the laurels of the day, but until Lacy drew 
his attention to it, he does not seem to have observed the 
ill-judged exposure of the left Prussian flank, which gave 
him his advantage. And Daun's second victory was, like 
his first, considerably neutralized by failure to follow it up. 

The news of Hochkirch was a welcome break in the 
clouds that overhung the Court of Versailles. The un- 
toward experiences of the French at Rossbach had been 
promptly avenged by their ally. Her friendship had 
become a more valuable asset. Louis XV proposed to 
cement it by a marriage between his granddaughter, Isabella 
of Parma, and the Archduke Joseph. 

To Maria Theresa the suggestion was peculiarly gratify- 
ing. She would have closed with it at once but for a 
prior understanding that the heir to her throne should 
marry the elder daughter of the King of the Two Sicilies. 
It had transpired that she was weak physically, if not 
mentally. Yet even when Joseph, who had been comparing 
reports and likenesses, fixed his choice on Isabella, his 
mother hesitated to entertain the idea of slighting the 
daughter of the man who was obviously destined to succeed 
his stepbrother on the Spanish throne. Fortunately Kau- 
nitz was able to find a diplomatic solution of the problem. 
By divers concessions he obtained that the younger Sicilian 
princess, Marie Louise, should be affianced to the Arch- 
duke Charles, the heir of Tuscany. This left the way 
clear for the formal betrothal of Joseph and Isabella. The 
Archduke was seventeen ; the daughter of Don Philip of 
Parma nearly a year younger. Their marriage was wisely 
delayed. 

The campaign of 1759 was one long triumph for the 
Empress- Queen. At no point could Frederick get the better 



POLITICAL CRICKET 245 

of his opponents. In August his fortunes reached their 
lowest ebb. His attempt to check a fresh advance of the 
Russians by giving battle at Kunersdorf would have been 
•successful but for the timely intervention of an Austrian 
contingent under Laudon. In the end of the day the 
Prussian army was routed with such terrible slaughter that 
Frederick, in despair, made no effort to protect himself 
from the deadly fire. He was eventually forced away from 
the field by a company of his own troops. " My coat is 
riddled with bullets," he wrote; "two horses have been 
killed under me. It is my misfortune to be still alive." 

This was the moment when a commander of any resource 
would have struck home and brought the war to a close. 
Laudon was alive to the opportunity, but the Russian general 
refused even to engage in a pursuit. Frederick had been 
expecting his death-blow in the fall of Berlin. To his 
no small surprise he had time to recover from his despon- 
dency and rally his troops. Before the end of the year 
he was again on the heels of Daun, but was repulsed 
with renewed loss at Maxen. 

During this life -and- death struggle the French made a 
fresh effort to strike at Brandenburg through Hanover. 
At Minden they were, however, defeated by Ferdinand of 
Brunswick, and forced to return to the Rhine. Other dis- 
asters made the year 1759 one of the blackest in the annals 
of France. Fler fleets were destroyed by Hawke and Bos- 
cawen. Canada was lost by Wolfe's victory at Quebec. 
The claim to supremacy in the Carnatic passed from the 
French to the British East India Company. Louis XV 
would have abandoned the hopeless contest and come to 
terms with his rival but for the treaties with Austria, which 
confused the issues of the Anglo-French and the Third 
Silesian wars. Constrained to go on with the game, though 
all the odds were against him, Louis might well have ex- 
claimed in his turn, " I like not the bowling of the Em- 
press, she seems not to tire." 

Her accumulating notches were a sure antidote to weari- 
ness. She could hardly wait till the winter was over and 
the campaign of 1760 had begun. A few. more Austrian 
balls and Frederick's wicket would be down, and his repu- 
tation as a champion at an end for ever. Thus she argued, 



246 MARIA THERESA 

not dreaming that the war would drag on for three more 
years, or that she would never again have the option of 
dictating terms of peace. 

In 1760 Frederick recovered his military prestige. By 
the end of 1761 he was almost at his last gasp. George 
III had succeeded to the British throne, and his desire to 
end the war led to the fall of Pitt and the premiership of 
Lord Bute. With the cessation of hostilities between Eng- 
land and France it looked as if Frederick would be crushed 
between the upper and nether millstones of Austria and 
Russia; but the death of the Czarina in 1762 changed the 
whole aspect of affairs. Her successor, Peter III, was 
ready to champion the Prussian cause through thick and 
thin. And even when Peter was assassinated, after a reign 
of a few months, his widow and successor, Catherine II, 
elected to remain neutral. Left single-handed, and with 
the dead weight of Saxony to support, Maria Theresa was 
forced to overcome her repugnance to a drawn game. 
She had been duped by the hopes which won her assent to 
the policy of Kaunitz. After seven years' expenditure of 
blood and treasure she had neither regained Silesia nor 
wrested his sceptre from the King of Prussia. But it is 
characteristic of the monarch, who judged by intention 
rather than result, that she was more concerned about her 
Chancellor's alarming illness in the autumn of 1762 than 
the difficulties in which he had involved her. In her 
correspondence with his deputy, she passes from business 
of State to inquiries about the patient, and disquisitions 
on the right use of quinine in fever cases. When Kaunitz 
becomes convalescent, she goes to consult him until he is 
able to resume attendance at Court, and full direction of 
the Austrian representatives at Hubertsburg, in Saxony, 
where peace was being negotiated. He proposed that Aus- 
tria should retain the county of Glatz, and that Saxony 
should be compensated for her sufferings during the war. 
" Not a foot of land, and no compensation to Saxony; 
not a village, not a penny," was Frederick's reply. Saxony 
merely regained her lost provinces, while Austria obtained 
a promise of the Brandenburg vote in favour of Joseph 
at the election of a King of the Romans, and recognition of 
a proposed arrangement for the establishment of an 



POLITICAL CRICKET 247 

Austrian archduke in Modena. Such were the provisions of 
the Treaty of Hubertsburg (Feb. 15th, 1763). Five days 
earlier the Peace of Paris had ended the struggle between 
England and France, and secured to the former country, 
the fruits of victories in North America, the West Indies, 
and Hindustan. The British triumph was wholly due to the 
brilliant ministry of the elder Pitt. Its most significant! 
commemoration was the renaming of Fort Duquesne. That 
stronghold had become Pittsburg. 

Carlyle justly emphasizes the fact that " only in out- 
ward and tangible points " could a treaty restore Austria 
and Prussia to the position they had held before the con- 
flict. Though " not a hamlet had changed its ruler," far- 
reaching were the consequences of " the tornado of strife 
such as the world had not witnessed since the Thirty Years' 
War. The kingdom of Prussia had become one of the 
five great Powers of Europe, and henceforth disputed with 
Austria the leadership in Germany." But Austria had ob- 
tained effective security for her frontiers by showing her- 
self strong enough to resist attack. When she again fell 
foul of Prussia, in 1778, there was no precipitate action 
on the part Of Frederick. His prowess had gained him 
the title of Frederick the Great, but he had failed as signally 
as Maria Theresa in making the war yield him acquisitions 
of territory. That the Empress had fathomed his design of 
annexing Saxony and compensating the Elector in Bohemia 
may be inferred from her letter to the besieged officers at 
Prague. The issue had verily turned on the ability of the 
Austrians to prevent the fall of the Bohemian capital and 
consequent occupation of the kingdom. 

Maria Theresa's correspondence on the subject of the 
war goes to prove her complete mastery of the details of 
each campaign. Again and again she urges her over- 
cautious commanders to take the offensive and proceed with 
the vigour which alone could exhaust the resources of Fred- 
erick. More intolerable than ever must have seemed the 
circumstances which condemned her to look on instead of 
taking the field in person. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

FAMILY HISTORY, 1760-63 

THE chronicler or draughtsman who deals with any 
aspect of the 5ilesian wars, naturally lays stress on 
the more virile qualities of the Empress- Queen — 
her grim determination, her fighting spirit, her grasp of 
military detail, her statesmanlike comprehension of the sig- 
nificance of every strategical movement. Yet the human, 
lovable side of her nature was never obscured. It is very 
manifest in her intimate correspondence with friends and 
kindred, and in such contemporary narratives as the 
Memoirs of Prince Albert of Saxony. 

As a youth of twenty-one, the Prince, who was the 
fourth son of Augustus of Saxony- Poland, had his first 
glimpse of life at the Austrian capital. He and his brother 
Clement, his junior by a year, had grown weary of the 
enforced residence of the Saxon Court at Warsaw. They 
therefore joined the army of Maria Theresa as volunteers, 
and served throughout the campaign of 1759. When the 
troops went into winter quarters, the superior officers hurried 
off to Vienna to enjoy the season's round of gaieties. In 
the early days of 1760, the Saxon princes took the same 
road. It had been arranged that they should celebrate the 
New Year by making the personal acquaintance of their 
Imperial relatives. The Empress was their mother's cousin, 
but they had an idea that she was an exceedingly formid- 
able personage. 

" The day after our arrival in Vienna," writes Prince 
Albert, " we were presented to the Emperor. He received 
us with the frankness and urbanity which make him the 
best-liked man in the whole Court. Then he led the way 
to the apartments of the Empress, who also welcomed us 
with the utmost cordiality. We left her audience-chamber 

248 



FAMILY HISTORY 249 

full of enthusiasm for the great princess, who has won the 
admiration of all Europe. Our next visit was to the Arch- 
duke Joseph, a much-talked-about prince, albeit he was 
two months short of nineteen, and his character virtually 
unknown. One could only perceive that he was extremely 
reserved. Finally we were introduced to the other members 
of the numerous and good-looking family," that is to say, 
to no fewer than a dozen young people, ranging from 
Archduchess Marianne, aged twenty-two, to Maximilian, who 
had not yet completed his fourth year. 

Though Joseph maintained his attitude of aloofness, the 
visitors at once felt at ease with his light-hearted, glib- 
tongued brother Charles. The younger Archdukes, Leo- 
pold, Ferdinand, and Maximilian, were still in the school- 
room or the nursery. Marianne's continued weak health 
made her less prominent at Court than the sisters nearest 
her in age, Marie Christine, Elizabeth, and Amelia. She 
had four other sisters, mere children in 1760, the Arch- 
duchesses Joanna, Josepha, Caroline, and Antoinette. 

When the introductions were over, the Saxon princes 
were invited to be present at the evening assembly of 
notabilities in the reception-rooms of the Empress. Her 
elder daughters helped to entertain the company with music. 
" All the princesses were beautiful," says the gallant Albert, 
" but the second had such a graceful figure, such a noble, 
intellectual countenance that I was in love with her from 
the very first moment. During our visit to Vienna, there 
was a great deal of snow. One day the Court made an 
excursion to Schonbrunn in sledges. The ladies and gentle- 
men drew lots for partners. As luck would have it, my lot 
was to be the companion of the Archduchess, whose en- 
gaging qualities had already made so profound an impres- 
sion upon me. Thus" I was able to spend several hours in 
her society. Her conversation was as delightful as her 
appearance, yet I djared not tell her what I felt. A prin- 
cess of her standing was far above a portionless younger 
son." 

The quick-witted girl of nearly eighteen was, however, 
fully capable of gauging the situation. Her feelings were 
not involved. She had been strongly attracted by a de- 
clared suitor, Prince Louis of Wiirtemberg, and cherished 



250 MARIA THERESA 

the hope that her parents would withdraw their objections 
to him. But to be offered homage without words was not 
an unpleasing experience. Was it quite by chance that 
at the next sleighing expedition, when there was no drawing 
of lots, Albert was again paired off with the object of his 
devotion? Less serious than on the former occasion, she was 
none the less adorable. The kinsman who kept himself 
in hand and, without being dull, refrained from unadvised 
protestations, rose steadily in her esteem. 

Maria Theresa's political detractors are wont to describe 
her Court as a gloomy place, where her jealousy would 
only tolerate women destitute of all attractiveness. This 
was not the verdict of such as had the entry to the charmed 
circle. " In spite of the war," says Prince Albert, " there 
was much in the way of entertainment and merrymaking, 
both at Court and in the residences of the nobility. The 
Emperor's love of social pleasure, the Empress's desire 
to please her husband, a young household with its natural 
propensity to enjoyment, all combined to keep things lively. " 
Austrian society had changed since the days of Lady 
Mary Wortley Montagu. " There was in Vienna," con- 
tinues the writer, " a goodly number of beautiful women. 
I saw the lovely Princess Auersperg. 1 The Emperor makes 
no secret of his passion for her. Prince Albert was more 
drawn to the Empress. He might well chant her praises, 
for she literally showered benefits on her young visitors. 
It was her way of trying to make amends for the ill-fortune 
that had overtaken their family and country in consequence 
of the Austro- Prussian quarrel. Her parting gift to Albert 
was the promise of a commission in her army should he 
decide for a military life. So far as the Prince was con- 
cerned nothing could have been more desirable than the 
prospect thus opened out. He was ready to do anything 
to remain in touch with the Austrian Court. But the de- 
cision rested with his father. At the consultation in War- 
saw, Augustus wisely determined to leave his son's future 
in the hands of the Empress- Queen. He could not, however, 
refrain from inquiring if Albert knew his own mind. " A 
few months ago you were all for an ecclesiastical career," 

1 A daughter of Neipperg married to Prince Adam Auersperg. 



FAMILY HISTORY 251 

remarked the parent, who had been casting about for the 
means of giving effect to the supposed vocation. " That 
was a counsel of despair/' replied the son, and the explana- 
tion was accepted. But Augustus had no intention of taking 
trouble for nothing. It was speedily discovered that Prince 
Clement would make an excellent Churchman. 

In the early autumn of 1760, the princes paid a second 
visit to the Emperor and Empress. There was some ad- 
vance in intimacy, for the Court was at Laxenburg where 
opportunities of informal intercourse were more frequent 
than in Vienna. Francis showed goodwill by inviting his 
guests to, boar-hunts and praising their dexterity. Albert 
received officer's rank in a cavalry regiment, and Clement 
the promise of a bishopric. When, for the second time, 
they took leave of their relations, the Imperial Family was 
returning to Vienna to complete the arrangements for 
Joseph's marriage on October 8th. 

Those who take exception to what they call the bour- 
geois element in Maria Theresa's character are particu- 
larly scornful of her matchmaking proclivities and her ab- 
sorbing interest in weddings, no matter who was getting 
married. When the bridegroom- elect was her eldest son, 
the hope of the monarchy, a possible emperor, and the 
first of the rising generation to assume domestic respon- 
sibilities, her determination "to do things handsomely " 
fairly ran away with her discretion. She had set her face 
like a flint against the peace which France would have 
welcomed in 1759. But the campaign of 1760 was not 
leading up to a more advantageous settlement, and war 
expenditure still forced extraordinary measures on the 
financial department. The Empress was always going to 
retrench, but her good resolutions were apt to take wing 
at the first prompting of generosity or the first appeal 
for almsgiving. Now she refused to be gainsaid, though 
marriage celebrations on the lavish scale which she deemed 
fitting, were bound to cripple her resources for many a long 
day to come. Her letters show that a year before the 
event she had begun to plan the ceremonial. She expressed 
much satisfaction when Prince Wenzel Liechtenstein under- 
took to represent the Archduke at the marriage by proxy 
and to escort the bride to Vienna. The most successful and 



252 MARIA THERESA 

disinterested of the army reformers was worthy of the 
honour; but his vast wealth had not a little to do with hisi 
selection. Though he spent money freely, the impoverished 
State was still mainly responsible for the expense of a 
convoy which required three hundred post-horses to trans- 
port it to and from Italy. And this was but, as it were, the 
overture to scene after scene of surpassing brilliance in 
Vienna itself. 

It was of the irony of things that this parade of mag- 
nificence should be occasioned by the union of two young 
people, neither of whom attributed any importance to out- 
ward show. Joseph's love of simplicity almost amounted 
to a passion; and few have found the glory of the 
world less alluring than Isabella of Parma. The death 
of her mother, the favourite daughter of Louis XV, had 
made the marriage less of a bond between the French 
and Austrian Courts than had been anticipated. Yet, not- 
withstanding the change of circumstance, Maria Theresa 
could conceive of no more desirable wife for her son than 
the one on whom he had set his mind. To Prince Liecht- 
enstein she wrote, " Everything that pertains to this mar- 
riage is entirely in accordance with my wishes. I flatter 
myself that it will ensure to .my later years a freedom from 
care denied to me in youth." 

Glowing accounts of the young princess had been sent 
to Vienna by Count Mercy-Argenteau, the Austrian Resi- 
dent in Parma. He told of her brightness and charm, her 
gentleness and kindness of heart, and her exceptional in- 
tellectual and artistic gifts. Her mother has received credit 
for the care expended on her education, but praise is more 
probably due to her father. Philip of Parma's genuine 
love of art and letters would have commended him to the 
Italian despots of the Renaissance. His tastes were fully 
shared by his talented elder daughter. At eighteen " her 
attainments would have been thought remarkable in an 
able young man." Her mind, she said, was not unlike her 
desk. All sorts of things found a place in it: "a little 
philosophy, a little morals, light romances, deep reflections, 
merry songs, history, physics, logic, metaphysics." Amongst 
the deep reflections were those that turned on the signifi- 
cance of life and its intimations of immortality. In an 



FAMILY HISTORY 253 

age which symbolized its attitude to death by skulls and 
cross-bones this girlish thinker was half in love with the 
waiting shadow that could unlock so many mysteries. The 
cloistral seclusion of her upbringing and the over-stimula- 
tion of her brain may account for her tendency to brood- 
ing melancholy and her presentiment of early death. It was 
the one indication of a morbid strain in an otherwise healthy 
mentality. That she never became the prey of her gloomy 
fancies was largely due to her skill as a violinist. She 
could double the parts of Saul and David. 

From her sequestered life in Parma and association 
with a sister and brothers younger than herself, and of quite 
ordinary intelligence, Isabella passed at a bound to one of 
the most prominent positions at the Imperial Court. , She 
was neither dazzled nor dismayed. In striking contrast to 
her handsome fair-haired sisters-in-law was the dark-com- 
plexioned descendant of the Bourbons of France and Spain, 
with lovely eyes and hair, though with more of piquancy 
than actual beauty in her expressive features. Her gift 
of gifts was a magnetic power that was simply irresistible. 

If Joseph made no immediate demonstration of feeling, 
he was none the less convinced that he had chosen the 
right princess. His more emotional mother could hardly 
find words to express her delight. Three days after the 
marriage she writes to one of her relatives: "We have 
gained a charming daughter-in-law in every respect, and 
I am on the tip-top of happiness. The weather, the fes- 
tivities, everything, in short, was all that could be desired. 
I quite forgot that I was a King in my gladness as a 
mother. If only the good God would send us such news 
as would justify negotiations for peace, I would have noth- 
ing left to wish for." 

Happy in the approval of her husband and his family, 
the bride of eighteen was likewise happy in her first inti- 
mate friendship with' a girl of her own age, her sister-in-law 
Marie Christine. They read and studied together, ex- 
changed innumerable written messages, and exercised, on 
the whole, a salutary influence on each other. Their mutual 
admiration and ardent affection make their letters read like 
an amatory correspondence. Isabella's peculiarly fervid ex- 
pressions of devotion justify Marie's occasional doubts of 



254 MARIA THERESA 

their sincerity. The writer was persuaded that every word 
came from her heart. But the fact remains that she was 
a reader of novels, with a gift of verbal expression, and 
that she had been deprived of the opportunity of writing 
genuine love-letters. 

When the correspondents disagree there is no question 
of their meaning, and the delivery of home-truths is 
invaluable for the light thrown on their respective char- 
acters. One can sympathize with Marie's sweeping con- 
demnation of her friend's unnatural hankering after a dis- 
embodied state. " Allow me to tell you," she writes to 
Isabella, " that your great longing for death is an out-and- 
out evil thing. It either points to selfishness or a desire to 
seem heroic, and it is at variance with your own loving 
disposition. It ought to be repugnant to you to give utter- 
ance to sentiments so grievous to people who are abso- 
lutely bound up in your existence." The culprit duly ex- 
pressed contrition, but it was apparently beyond the power 
of her will to subjugate her feeling on this particular point. 

Equally uncompromising is Isabella's remonstrance when 
Marie had been making a storm in a teacup about one of 
Joseph's satirical speeches. " My deep love for you prompts 
me to send you this note. I conjure you in the name of 
that love to give heed to what I say. You know what 
happened yesterday. It may lead to endlers trouble if you 
persist in your attitude. I have convinced the Archduke 
that he was in the wrong. To tell the truth, you were 
equally so, but it was just as well to ignore that. I be- 
seech you therefore, when you meet him, to act as if noth- 
ing had happened. If he is backward in making advances, 
take no notice. Should any reference be made to the dis- 
agreement treat it as a joke. If you will follow this course 
I can make him feel more guilty than ever. . . . But do 
try to 'give in to him more and not to take him so seriously." 

Marie must have made the required effort to subdue her 
sensitiveness to raillery, for she often took part in her 
brother's extemporized concerts. In the restful atmosphere 
of his own household, playing on the clavichord the accom- 
paniments to his wife's violin, he was a very different being 
from the proud, uncommunicative, censorious youth who 
puzzled outsiders. With the elfin charm of a pied piper 



FAMILY HISTORY 255 

Isabella had drawn him in the first instance by her music. 
As time went on they discovered other interests in common. 
For a mere girl the Archduchess' insight into character 
was almost uncanny. It kept her from making any mis- 
take in regard to her husband, and was a very lamp to her 
feet amidst the mazes of the Austrian Court. She depre- 
cated Marie's complaint of Joseph's coldness. " His nature 
is not primarily emotional," said his wife. " Caresses and 
words of endearment will be put down to flattery or hypoc- 
risy unless you have established a sure claim to his esteem. 
Given esteem, friendship follows as a matter of course." 
A glance over the Archduke's subsequent career suggests 
that the friendship might still be a lukewarm affair if the 
estimable person were not also his intellectual equal. By 
rare good fortune, a matrimonial alliance for political rea- 
sons had given him the very companionship that could 
satisfy and stimulate him. His marriage was, in his own 
words, " unsurpassed for happiness." 

On very insufficient grounds it has been assumed that 
Isabella did not share her husband's satisfaction. There 
seems no doubt that she had all the felicity possible to a 
woman whose genius had found no adequate means of 
expression. Her disquieting fixed idea has its natural and 
excusable aspect. Time and domestic happiness might re- 
concile her to her lot. Scarcely in youth could she feel 
at home in the restricted house of her life. Neither she 
nor her consort can be judged by ordinary standards, but 
their own testimony as to their relations ought to be final. 
Even Isabella's impassioned letters to Marie contain allu- 
sions to a stronger tie. " Much as I love you," she says 
on one occasion, " I feel that the Archduke comes first." 

In March, 1762, the new household celebrated the birth 
of a daughter. The Empress, overjoyed that everything had 
gone well, forgot to be disappointed with the small name- 
sake, who had dispelled her hope of a grandson. Her 
letters contain many affectionate references to " Little Ther- 
esa." Her tenderness to her own children had left nothing 
to be desired in their early years. Unfortunately, as they 
grew up, the thought of their destinies tended to come 
between them and their mother. Her consuming anxiety 
that they should worthily represent the House of Habsburg 



256 MARIA THERESA 

made her less observant of their good points than of the 
weaknesses which had to be eradicated. This gave her an 
appearance of severity she was far from feeling. It was 
a further bar to intimacy that the children knew that their 
characters and futures were talked over with political ad- 
visers. Her Majesty's confidence was not always respected. 
" The Empress is such a very good friend herself," said 
her daughter-in-law, M that she forgets good friends are 
rare and that very few persons can be trusted without 
reserve." Isabella yielded to no one in her admiration for 
Maria Theresa, and she perceived more clearly than any 
one else the exceeding loneliness of the monarch's posi- 
tion. In the bygone days, in Parma, her own mother had 
been as companionable as an elder sister. But the life 
of a princess with no political responsibility had little in 
common with that of the reigning sovereign of a great 
European state. Besides, the number of Her Majesty's 
daughters and the slight difference in their ages made 
it difficult to accord privileges to one which could not be 
extended to another. Isabella could safely feel that she 
was taking no one's place, when she became the friend and 
confidante of her mother-in-law, and her chief comfort in 
the early days of 1761, when Archduke Charles died of 
the after-effects of smallpox. His open-hearted, vivacious 
disposition had made him curiously like the young prince 
who had been transplanted from Lorraine to Austria in 
Maria Theresa's childhood. This resemblance rendered her 
specially lenient to the shortcomings of her second son. 
It was a sorrowful task to negotiate for the transference to 
Leopold of the succession in Tuscany, and the expectation 
of marriage with the Princess of Spain. Her Majesty's 
fourth son, Ferdinand, would, it was hoped, inherit Leo- 
pold's former prospect of becoming Governor of Milan and 
husband of Marie Beatrix d'Este, heiress of the Duchy 
of Modena. 

But neither the love lavished upon her by her husband 
and her mother-in-law, nor her own fondness for her little 
daughter, could make Isabella desire a lengthening of her 
time upon earth. She could not, however, brook the idea 
of leaving Maria Theresa to her former isolation. When 
the expected summons came she determined that Marie 



FAMILY HISTORY 257 

should succeed to her place. And since her sister-in-law 
flatly refused to listen to presentiments, it occurred to 
Isabella to draw up a series of instructions as a posthumous 
guide for her friend. This strangest of testamentary docu- 
ments has fortunately been preserved. Its vivid character- 
sketches of the Emperor and Empress, and its sidelights 
on the life of the Imperial Family, at the close of the 
Seven Years' War, make it a record of permanent value. 

" The Empress," says the writer, " has an exceptionally 
tender, clinging, sympathetic disposition. Those whom she 
loves, she loves in very truth. She would sacrifice herself 
for any member of her family, or even for her friends. 
. . . Through suffering she has learned to know life and 
the world. Her advice is therefore extremely helpful. It 
is much to be wished that she could derive more personal 
advantage from her experience and her talents. But she 
underestimates herself and too often distrusts her own good 
judgment. Her hesitation gives an opening to individuals 
whom she takes to be wise, but who are merely self-seeking 
and able to effect their own ends under a cloak of zealous 
loyalty. ... If you find yourself in any difficulty, I coun- 
sel you to go straight to the Empress and get her opinion 
there and then. When she has told you what she advises, 
hasten to thank her, to express conviction of the rightness 
of her decision and your desire that the matter should 
remain between herself and you. Then you may feel sure 
it will go no further." On the other hand, Marie must be 
prepared to hear that in a moment of impulsiveness or 
irritation the Empress has formed some injudicious resolu- 
tion. To express disapproval would be impossible, but 
there were delicate ways of insinuating a need of recon- 
sideration. 

Though Isabella took many difficulties to her mother-in- 
law, the most harassing of all had to be kept to herself. 
To maintain a friendly relationship with both Emperor and 
Empress was like walking on a tight-rope. The Arch- 
duchess fully appreciated her father-in-law's good points, 
but she could not, like Maria Theresa, shut her eyes to 
his faults. It was natural that he should expect to be on 
an equality with his wife, as far as the younger generation 
was concerned. " And indeed," says Isabella, " one's in- 
17 



258 MARIA THERESA 

stinctive impulse is to respond freely to his outspoken 
friendliness." It was essential that he should think the 
members of his family did so respond, otherwise he would 
be offended. And to offend the Emperor would estrange the 
Empress and be the end of all things. Yet there must 
needs be reservations as long as His Majesty was influenced 
by his infatuation for Wilhelmina von Auersperg. " I wager," 
continues the Archduchess, " that she is consulted about 
many things she has no business to meddle with." It be- 
hoved one therefore to be extremely circumspect in order 
to keep inviolate the confidences of the Empress and to 
propitiate the Emperor by candour for candour on all other 
points. Isabella perceived that Marie would find it easier to 
stand well with him than she herself had done. He was 
proud of his daughter's distinguished appearance, of her 
ability and vivacity. Prince Louis of Wiirtemberg, finding 
himself relegated to the position of an unsuccessful suitor, 
had gone a- wooing in Dresden. When Albert of Saxony 
revisited Vienna in 1763, he had reason to hope that Marie 
was no longer indifferent to him, but unfortunately the 
Emperor seemed bent on marrying her to her cousin, the 
Duke de Chablais, son of the King of Sardinia. Maria 
Theresa was more inclined to the match that gave promise 
of happiness. She promoted Albert to the rank of general, 
and gave him command of a division of the troops quar- 
tered in Hungary. 

Though Francis had little ado with the business of the 
State, he was continuously associated with the lighter side of 
his consort's life. Both retained their interest in the events 
of the musical world. The year 1762 had scarcely dawned 
when they heard how all Munich had been excited over the 
marvellous clavier-playing of a girl of ten and a boy of six, 
the children of Ludwig Mozart, choirmaster of the Bishop 
of Salzburg. After a brief stay in the Bavarian capital 
they returned to their mountain-home. In the following 
September it was announced that they had arrived in Vienna. 
From the very outset the city justified its reputation as a 
haunt of musicians. The Customs officer examined with 
interest the tiny fiddle carried by Wolfgang Mozart. The 
boy's ready response to a request for a tune, and his as- 
tounding command of the instrument, ended in the admis- 



FAMILY HISTORY 259 

sion of the family luggage free of duty. Ludwig Mozart 
was speedily commanded to bring his son and daughter to 
Schonbrunn. Their playing exceeded all expectation. Time 
after time they were summoned to Court. 

Vienna was as enthusiastic as Munich had been about 
the gifted but quite unspoiled children, with their pretty 
faces and ways and quaint little Court dresses, which had 
been presented to them by the Empress. " All the ladies 
were in love with the boy"; but the boy had his own 
preferences. In the motherly Empress, he at once recog- 
nized a friend. Climbing on to her lap, he threw his arms 
round her neck and kissed her. Sometimes she held him 
on her knee while be played, the Emperor standing by 
to watch the agile fingers of the child whom he called 
his " little magician," and for whom he was always in- 
venting tests of skill. " True art," said Francis in a teasing 
mood, " is to play with the keyboard covered." Wolfgang 
assented to the covering of the keys, and then played with 
all his usual verve and firmness, a tour de force often 
repeated at His Majesty's request. When the concert was 
over, the small prodigy was allowed to share the amuse- 
ments of the younger members of the Imperial household. 
In the course of some game he slipped and fell on the 
polished floor. When the little Archduchess Antoinette 
helped him on to his feet, he gratefully offered to marry 
her. Strange momentary association of two children of 
destiny: the one called to vindicate his genius as a com- 
poser in the teeth of poverty, envy, and prejudice; the 
other chosen for a marriage which was to be her passport 
to a throne;, a prison, arid a scaffold. 

Mozart naturally took to the girl nearest his own age 
in the younger quartet of princesses. Her three slightly 
older sisters were also bright, happy-dispositioned children. 
During the preceding summer, Maria Theresa had written 
to their Governess, congratulating her on the marked im- 
provement in the twelve-year-old Joanna. " The Emperor 
is delighted with her," says her mother, " and I am also 
entirely satisfied with her progress." She was already 
spoken of as the future bride of Ferdinand of the Two 
Sicilies, who had been established on the throne of Naples 
when his father succeeded to that of Spain. But the late 



2 6o MARIA THERESA 

autumn was often an unhealthy period in the Danube valley. 
Shortly after the departure of the youthful musicians, Joanna 
was seized with fever, evidently typhus, and her strength 
ebbed rapidly. When the New Year began, there was 
another empty place in the family circle. " She never 
caused me grief till I grieved for her loss," said the sorrow- 
stricken mother. 

Joanna's sister-in-law kept herself minutely informed of 
what took place in the sick-room, and sent full reports to 
Marie, who was apparently in Schonbrunn. The letters tell 
of the writer's regret that she could not change places' 
with one whose love of life was so much stronger than: 
her own. Isabella escaped the fever, but had a sharp attack 
of illness a few months afterwards. Her expressed convic- 
tion that she would not survive the current year did not 
tend to allay anxiety. She recovered, however, not a little 
to her own surprise, and much' to the joy of every one else. 

In a country once more at peace, Maria Theresa saw her 
way to a fuller development of various schemes of reform, 
which had begun to interest her before the outbreak of 
the last war. She was happy in the renewal of intercourse 
with the daughter-in-law who could bring a vigorous and 
practical understanding to bear on difficult questions, and 
happy also in the hope of a second grandchild. All went 
well till the trying month of November, when there were 
rumours of a new outbreak of infectious disease in ,the 
city. On the 19th, Isabella became suddenly and alarmingly 
ill. Her husband watched by her day and night. Her 
mother-in-law was half frantic with grief when advised to 
abstain from any visit to the patient. The Emperor, with 
his divided allegiance, was no longer capable of giving to 
his consort all the sympathy and support she needed. In 
her hour of agony she turned once more to the elderly, 
invalid who had been her guardian as long as health and 
strength lasted. " My dear Tarouca," she writes, " I am so 
overwhelmed with anxiety that there is no room for any 
other feeling. Yet it is a relief to pour out my sorrow 
to my friends. The Archduchess has just been bled. The 
talk is still of a rheumatic seizure, but all the symptoms 
point to smallpox. Judge of my state of mind. How I 
tremble for the dear mother and her infant. She is not 



FAMILY HISTORY 261 

strong at the best, and there would have been a certain 
amount of anxiety in normal circumstances. Think what 
it means to me to be kept away from her. At my sugges- 
tion Van Swieten is acting in concert with De Haen. God 
grant that by their united efforts the happy union may be 
prolonged. Marie is very ill too, and Antoinette had a 
convulsive attack and was unconscious for an hour." 

Maria Theresa was saved from continued anxiety about 
her children, but Van Swieten could give her no comfort 
with regard to the daughter-in-law whom she loved as much 
as, if not more than, her own daughters. Isabella was un- 
doubtedly suffering from smallpox, complicated on the third 
day by the premature birth of an infant girl, who only 
lived a few hours. The mother revived slightly and Joseph, 
hoping against hope, was the most devoted of her nurses. 
But his vigilance could not stay the approach of his dreaded 
rival. Nine days after the illness had declared itself, he was 
supporting his wife in his arms to relieve her troubled 
breathing, when he was forced to realize that the unequal 
conflict was over. Isabella had received the fulfilment of 
her great longing. 

To his father-in-law, Joseph wrote on the same, sad 
day, November 27th, 1763, "I have lost everything. My 
adored wife, my love, my only friend is gone. . . . You 
will also grieve for her loss, but think what it means to 
me. Wounded to the quick, I hardly know if I am still 
alive. Shall I survive this terrible separation? I fear the 
answer must be yes ; but there can be no more happiness, 
for me while life endures." 

Another letter from the sorrowing Prince to the Duke 
of Parma, written, a fortnight later, leaves no room for doubt 
that his married life had been an ideal comradeship. " The 
only thing that comforts me is to be alone in my room, 
where I can gaze at the portrait of my beloved wife and 
handle her writings and other possessions. Often I seem 
to see her so clearly that I speak to her and feel less lonely. 
When she withdraws herself again and I can perceive noth- 
ing, imagine my despair. I gather up and treasure every 
scrap of her writing. I would like to show the world what 
a helpmate I had in her, how truly she deserves to be 
mourned. What rest I have enjoyed in my own home, 



262 MARIA THERESA 

with my wife's arms round me. When I had to leave 
her, what happiness it was to come back. Our joys and 
sorrows have been honestly shared, and the days together 
were full of brightness. Who can measure the greatness 
of the loss for the State, for our whole family, and for my 
unhappy self? No one can take her place. There is no 
princess, no woman like her. To me this treasure was 
given; I have lost her, and I am only twenty-two." 



CHAPTER XXV 

JOSEPH'S CORONATION AS KING OF THE ROMANS 

IN the Imperial household, so suddenly bereft of its most 
winsome and brilliant member, there was the sympathy 
of fellow-mourners for the desolate heir to the throne. 
In other Courts the prevailing feeling was not compassion, 
but a desire to make the tragic occurrence subserve the 
purpose of this or that ambitious ruler. Every potentate 
in Europe seemed to have a daughter, a sister, or a niece 
for whom he coveted the position of Empress-Designate. 
When the Peace of Hubertsburg did away with the chief 
hindrance to the Archduke's election as King of the Romans, 
namely, the opposition of Prussia, Maria Theresa hoped that 
the matter would be settled out of hand. But Charles 
Theodore, of the Palatinate, was an adept at driving a 
bargain, and much time was consumed ere the Austrian 
Government effected the compromise which secured the last 
Electoral vote. 1 It was too late then for Joseph to enjoy 
the sole pleasure he had promised himself from his new 
dignity, the power to bestow on his wife the title of queen. 
Mutual sorrow had strengthened the bond between the 
Archduke and his mother. Left to herself, she would have 
deferred to a more convenient season the discussion of 
questions with regard to her son's future. But she could 
not evade the importunate marriage-brokers, who persisted 
in offering her daughters-in-law. The Saxon Court was 
zealous for its Princess Kunigunda, the Elector of Bavaria 
for his sister Josepha. The Duke of Orleans suggested 
his daughter. Count Silva-Tarouca was requested by the 
Portuguese Government to exhibit the likeness of a pretty 

1 An emperor was elected by a majority, a King of the Romans by a 
unanimous vote. 

263 



264 MARIA THERESA 

princess of the House of Braganza, Her Majesty's maternal 
relatives recommended Elizabeth of Brunswick, albeit she 
was already bespoken for the nephew and heir of Frederick 
the Great. Another niece of Frederick, Princess Wilhel- 
mina of Prussia, was likewise mentioned. Before the 
" drear-nighted December" of 1763 was at an end, the 
first desecrating overtures had been made. Joseph, still re- 
living the happy past, and asking only to be left alone until 
he could piece together the fragments of his broken life, 
was ruthlessly dragged from his seclusion and subjected 
to the unspeakable torture of having to contemplate a second 
marriage. 

At the first hint of what was impending he wrote to 
his father-in-law: "I have known the greatest of all be- 
reavements, the most crushing of sorrows, but further suffer- 
ing still awaits me by reason of my wretched trade. I shall 
not be allowed to give the fidelity of a lifetime to the wife 
who still possesses my whole heart." 

Though prepared for his doom, Joseph was not prepared 
for the shortness of his respite. He was justified in ex- 
pecting that the intrusive negotiators would receive no 
immediate encouragement. They were only told that no- 
thing would be decided till after the Prince's journey to 
Frankfort, a journey fixed for the month of March. 

It is impossible to exonerate from a charge of cruelty 
the parents who permitted themselves to be so speedily 
diverted from the human to the political aspect of the 
situation. Francis is the more excusable. There was nothing 
strained in his relations with his eldest son, but neither 
was there any intimacy between them. The Emperor's 
conduct exposed him to criticism, and Joseph, who had 
his full share of youthful intolerance, summed up his father 
as "an idler surrounded by flatterers." Unfilial remarks, 
duly retailed by Court gossips, did not make for unbroken 
harmony. Francis had done much to promote the interests 
of his children, and he was quick to feel and resent any 
lack of appreciation. It is doubtful if Isabella, for all her 
wariness, succeeded in hoodwinking him as to her preference 
for his consort. At all events, he did not find it jarring 
to imagine another daughter-in-law in her stead. 

But Maria Theresa, with her higher conception of wed- 



JOSEPH'S CORONATION 265 

lock, and her own heartache to serve as a clue to her son's 
feelings, ought to have known that to hurry him into a con- 
ventional union was nothing more nor less than a crime 
against nature, with every risk of nature's vengeance. In 
all probability she did know, and this was one of the 
occasions when, in place of trusting to her own power of 
intuition, she listened to the arguments of Kaunitz and the 
arguments of her husband to the hopeless warping of her 
judgment. 

Even Archduchess Marie made no attempt to plead the 
cause of her unhappy brother. A common sorrow had 
drawn her very near to the Empress, but her confidences 
to Prince Albert of Saxony show that she was under the 
extraordinary delusion that Joseph's loss was not so great 
as he believed it to be. In her ignorance of life the 
Archduchess discounted Isabella's love for her husband be- 
cause, forsooth, it had not the surface-glow of the love for 
herself. 

Thus when Maria Theresa began to examine the claims 
of the several nominees, the eyes of her understanding were 
so thoroughly darkened that she imagined herself about to 
restore her son's lost interest in life, when she was literally 
preparing to sacrifice him and another hapless victim to 
the Moloch of the State. 

She could not endure the idea of a marriage tie 
between the House of Austria and that of Prussia. The 
Princess of Brunswick was a distant relative of her own, 
but she was also a niece of Frederick, and had been brought 
up as a Protestant. An Orleans marriage offered no diplo- 
matic advantage. The Princess of Portugal was undeniably 
good-looking, but it was a serious drawback that the first 
article of her political creed was the necessity of friendship 
with England. Kaunitz maintained that a commingling of 
interests with Saxony or Bavaria would be of supreme 
importance to the monarchy. It was tantalizing that Kuni- 
gunda and Josepha were both so ill-favoured that there was 
small chance of the Archduke taking to either of them. 
The only young princess his mother could think of, who 
combined physical charm with the requisite political and re- 
ligious bias, was Marie Louise of Spain, the promised wife of 
Leopold. The Imperial matchmaker was confident that, if 



266 MARIA THERESA 

the idea c*f a union with the Infanta were to commend itself 
to the King of the Romans, Charles III would consent to 
an alteration of his daughter's destiny. If proof were 
needed of Maria Theresa's affection for her firstborn son, 
it might be found in the formulation of a plan which, had 
it been carried out, would have involved her in all the labour 
and anxiety of a complete readjustment of her matrimonial 
pawns. 

But it was impossible to take definite steps while Joseph 
deprecated any attempt to make him the supplanter of his 
brother and refused to listen to alternative proposals. His 
passionate protest that be could not even think of himself 
as a widower, and that to be outwardly joined to another 
wife would be a very climax of misery, might have given 
pause to the misguided votaries of the State. Unfortunately 
it made no impression on Kaunitz. If Maria Theresa herself 
were in trouble or danger, he was undoubtedly sympathetic ; 
but sentiment was rigorously excluded from his dealings 
with other public characters. He regarded the Crown 
Prince's impending journey through Bavaria as an oppor- 
tunity to be utilized by advocates of a matrimonial connec- 
tion with the House of Wittelsbach. 

On March 14th, 1764, the candidate for kingship, accom- 
panied by his father and his brother Leopold, left Vienna 
for Frankfort. The impressive scenes of nineteen years 
before were to be re-enacted, for the ceremonial was the 
same whether the central figure were an emperor or a King 
of the Romans and, as such, prospective Emperor. But 
the reluctant departure of Joseph was a complete contrast 
to the joyous setting forth of Francis in 1745. The forth- 
coming election would be, like the previous one, a victory 
for Maria Theresa. In the person of a born Habsburg 
it would reknit the ancient bond of union between Austria 
and the Empire. In other circumstances Her Majesty would 
not have foregone her share in the celebrations, but the 
Court was still ostensibly in mourning, and she remained in 
Vienna. 

In imagination, however, she followed the travellers from 
stage to stage, and found time for letter upon letter to her 
husband and Joseph. The latter, nurtured in the traditions 
of royalty, could discriminate between the mother who loved 



JOSEPH'S CORONATION 267 

him and the monarch who was bent on exacting a sacrifice 
from which he recoiled in every fibre of his being. As 
for the election at Frankfort, the occasion of so much con- 
gratulation, it seemed to the predestined king a very apple 
of Sodom. In his happier days he might still have stig- 
matized the attendant ceremonies as " useless and weari- 
some," but how different it would have been with Isabella 
to agree with him, to reaffirm her own conviction that for- 
malities of State were an utter waste of time. When all 
was said and done, they would certainly have found much 
to interest and amuse them in an excursion into the Middle 
Ages. 

The Frankfort festivities of 1764 are described in detail 
in Goethe's autobiography. As the son of an influential 
burgher, the lad of sixteen had exceptional opportunities 
of seeing all that took place. Spectators who had witnessed 
the pageantry of 1745 indulged in reminiscences, in which 
the young Maria Theresa and her consort figured pleasantly. 
The speakers were emphatic in their preference for the 
earlier celebrations. In what was passing before their eyes 
they found " a lack of human interest and passionate sym- 
pathy." 

It is not for the spectator of a later day to condemn the 
wiseacres of 1764. They judged according to appearances. 
But Time has contrived a double mirror, whereby the 
memorable series of pictures can be viewed on both sides. 
And the human interest becomes all-pervading when we turn 
from the vivid narrative of Goethe to Joseph's correspond- 
ence with his mother. 

A few brief extracts will suffice to show how suffering 
and sympathy had brought two strong-willed, independent 
characters very close to one another. The frankness and 
informality of the Archduke's letters testify to the expan- 
sion of his nature during three years' fellowship with ja 
kindred spirit. If only it had not become instinctive with 
Maria Theresa to put claims of State before personal feel- 
ing, she would surely have discerned that the needs of the 
dynasty were not half so urgent as the need of preventing 
Joseph from being again driven in upon himself. 

Even as it was, he dreaded lest his preoccupation with 
one subject should make him burdensome to his corre- 



268 MARIA THERESA 

spondent. His first despairing messages seemed to call for 
apology; but he continues: " I could not open my heart to 
any one save to a mother so tender, so loving, so pitiful 
of my sorrow. There is a measure of distraction in the 
sight of a hundred things that are new to me, but beneath 
it all is the constant sense of my terrible loss." 

Passing through Bavaria, the travellers were entertained 
by Elector Maximilian. He made no secret of his desire 
for nearer relationship with the Imperial Family. Unluckily, 
as it afterwards proved, Princess Josepha was not visible. 
Her brother made the most of her good qualities, but the 
most obliging of Court painters could not conceal her plain- 
ness of feature. " Certainly not here," was Joseph's sig- 
nificant remark in a letter from the electorate; but he goes 
on to say: " Unless it be as a proof of love to you, dear 
mother, I will never marry again. These recent days have 
brought a cruel tearing open of my wound. The image 
of my adorable wife is so deeply graven on my heart that 
at every moment it seems as if she might return to me. 
When a courier is announced I find myself half expecting 
news of her. And to think all that is at an end. If I 
tell you that my tears are falling as I write these words, 
you will know the exceeding greatness of my sorrow." 

Frankfort, meanwhile, was getting more and more excited 
over the imminent arrival of its Imperial guests. Goethe, 
with interest divided between boyish curiosity to see and 
hear all that was going on, and a first experiment in love- 
making, with Gretchen as heroine, exulted because " the 
latter part of March was so rich in festivals." And the 
cause of all the commotion, little more than a boy in years, 
though with a man's experience of suffering, regarded 
those same festivals as a veritable form of martyrdom. 
"My present life," he tells his mother, "is one long, 
violent effort. With a heart aching with grief I have 
to appear delighted with a position of which I feel all 
the responsibility and none of the pleasure. I, with my 
longing for solitude, with my difficulty in being at ease 
with people whom I do not really know, have to be always 
in company with others, and ready to start a conversation 
with every chance stranger. Think of me, with my limited 
command of words at the best of times, having to chatter 



JOSEPH'S CORONATION 269 

and pay compliments the whole day long. I assure you 
that when at last I reach my own apartments my head 
seems to be going round. But to merit your approval I 
can make light of the difficulties. Be sure that everything 
will be satisfactorily accomplished." 

And, indeed, no one looking on could detect any flaw in 
the order of procedure. " All the people," says Goethe, 
" were well disposed to the Habsburg prince by reason 
of his handsome, youthful form, and the hopes universally 
set on one who was the reputed possessor of great quali- 
ties." 

So there was cheering when the foregone result of the 
election was announced, and more acclamation when the 
King of the Romans made his entry into Frankfort, and 
on the day of his installation. " I will do my best," he 
wrote, " to prevent any regret on the part of those who 
rejoiced over taking me as their future leader." No thought 
of gladness was possible for himself. " My election took 
place on March 27th, four months to a day since the 
departure of that dear spirit. On the 29th it was four 
months since I was separated from all of her that was 
mortal, and that was the date of my public entry. The 
difference it would have made if these ceremonies had been 
graced by the presence of my Queen. Forgive me, my 
very dear mother, if I grieve you by my words. But 
have pity on a son who is fondly attached to you, and who 
is on the verge of despair. You tell me that in spirit you 
are in Frankfort. I assure you my spirit is in Vienna or 
wherever you happen to be." 

Certainly no trace of grief or despair was manifest to 
the cheering multitude. Goethe, from his vantage-point on 
the stairway of the banqueting-hall, caught Joseph's look 
of amusement at the incongruity of his own and his father's 
attire. Francis was by far the more dignified figure. He 
wore the unofficial Imperial robe of purple silk, with decora- 
tions of pearls and precious stones. It was remarked that 
he moved with the easy grace habitual to him. " The 
young King, on the contrary, in his outlandish garments, 
with the crown jewels of Charlemagne, dragged himself 
along as if conscious of his disguise. . . . The crown, 
which had required a great deal of padding, stood out 



270 MARIA THERESA 

from his head like an overhanging roof." There was room 
for criticism, even for ridicule. But the citizens had already 
seen and admired Joseph in his ordinary robes of state. 
They did not, therefore, find fault because his slight form 
was ill-adapted for an impressive display of the trappings 
of empire. The sole ground of complaint was that sug- 
gested by the older burghers, that the whole affair was 
wanting in human interest. 



C HAPTER XXVI 

THE SECOND MARRIAGE OF JOSEPH 



A 



FTER the coronation Joseph had to give a week to 
the task of getting to know the assembled digni- 
taries. So fair an opportunity of establishing a 
personal claim to their goodwill was unlikely to recur. His 
heart sank as he realized that they, too, had an interest in 
his matrimonial prospects. The ecclesiastical Elector of 
Cologne represented to the young Prince that the Empire, 
which had given him the reversion of its crown, expected 
him to select a consort with a view to the maintenance of 
peace. To this end, and also because of her fitness to 
shine in public and private, a union with Elizabeth of 
Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel would be eminently desirable. It 
would form a link between Catholics and Protestants, be- 
tween the partisans of Austria and those of Prussia. His 
Majesty might take it on the word of a Churchman that 
there was no serious obstacle. The Princess was not yet 
formally betrothed to the Crown Prince of Prussia. 

The Elector's words were duly reported in Joseph's next 
letter to Vienna. The sacrilegious aspect of the question 
was increasingly manifest to himself, but it was vain to 
dream of exemption from the penalties of kingship. To 
his mother he wrote: " If I were not so entirely devoted 
to you, and if my sh'ort experience of life had not afforded 
me some insigh't into the ways of the world, I would 
choose to remain a widower, or rather eternally bound to 
my beautiful angel, for I have not taken back the vow of 
fidelity I swore to her at the altar. ... I assure you it 
is a bitter struggle between my longing to conform to your 
wishes and my own inclination, conviction, my sense of 
propriety. I foresee tfrat my attachment to you will decide 

271 



272 MARIA THERESA 

the issue. God grant that it may not be my undoing, 
here and hereafter." 

The Elector of Cologne may have been right in his 
surmise that Elizabeth of Brunswick was the only princess 
in Europe who would prove a successful Queen of the 
Romans; but Maria Theresa would no,t look in the direc- 
tion of a kinswoman of Frederick ,11. Her letters still 
told of her fervent desire to obtain the hand of the Infanta 
for her new king. Great was her disappointment when he 
bespoke her intervention with Charles of Spain for a very 
different purpose. 

Though Joseph had found his chief solace in unreserved 
intercourse with his mother, he had also come to depend 
very much on the sympathy and counsel of his father-in- 
law. The fate from which he shrank seemed more intoler- 
able than ever when he reflected that it might cut him off 
from the free outpouring of thought and feeling to Philip 
of Parma. It occurred to him, therefore, that, if he must 
needs take some one to wife, existence would be more 
endurable if the bride were Louise of Parma, Isabella's 
only sister. She was but a girl of fourteen, and could 
not be married immediately, but th,at was all the better. 
Joseph would gain the interval he craved in order to recon- 
cile himself to his changed circumstances. 

He was aggrieved when his mother besought him to 
renounce a plan which had no chance of success. Prin- 
cess Louise was already betrothed to her cousin, the Prince 
of Asturias, and the Empress could see no reason why the 
King of Spain should forego his intentions with regard to 
his eldest son. Yet when Joseph insisted that her diplomatic 
skill could achieve the unlikely, and that, so far as he was 
concerned, the choice lay between Louise and nobody, the 
Empress agreed to make the required attempt. The answer 
from Madrid was precisely what she had expected. Charles 
III declined to annul the existing engagement and, having 
failed to obtain his prospective daughter-in-law, it was 
manifestly impossible to ask the King for his own daughter 
as a second-best bride. 

Joseph, driven from his last refuge and unnerved by the 
excessive demands which had been made upon him, pro- 
fessed utter indifference as to whom he married provided 



THE SECOND MARRIAGE OF JOSEPH 273 

his mother were satisfied. Nevertheless, he was dismayed 
to learn that his parents had begun to think seriously of 
those unprepossessing ladies of Saxony and Bavaria. Though 
he made no comment, his intellect assented when the Em- 
peror and Kaunitz proved from the history of the reign that 
friendship with Bavaria was almost vital to the integrity 
of Austria. Besides, the Elector Maximilian had no direct 
heir, and was likely to inherit certain allodial estates in 
Bohemia and the Palatinate. The marriage contract of 
his sister might be so drawn up as to convey to her descen- 
dants a considerable portion of this transferable property. 
Francis inclined to favour a marriage between his son and 
Princess Josepha. 

Maria Theresa, on the contrary, was more bent on show- 
ing goodwill to the Electoral Family of Saxony. Her atti- 
tude towards the disputed Polish Succession was causing 
grievous disappointment at the Court of Dresden. Augustus 
III had died in October, 1763. His eldest son, a life- 
long invalid, survived him only two months. The widow 
of the latter Prince, Maria Antonia of Bavaria, was a very 
competent guardian of her children's rights. There was 
no difficulty about her son's succession to the electorate; 
but it was idle to fancy that a boy of twelve would be 
suffered to perpetuate the Saxon dynasty in Poland. Cath- 
erine II declared in favour of a national king, and then 
set herself to secure the election of Stanislaus Poniatowski, 
a relative of the Russianized Czartoriski family. He was 
opposed by a genuinely national party, whose candidate 
was the Grand-General Branicki. The Electress of Saxony 
entreated the Austrian Government to support Branicki. 
His advanced age made it unlikely that his reign would 
be prolonged. By the time it was over the youthful Elector 
would doubtless be an eligible claimant of his grandfather's 
throne. As a possible alternative Maria Antonia suggested 
the immediate candidature of one of her brothers-in-law. 

" Austria strongly approved of the presence of the Saxon 
dynasty at Warsaw. Her interests were best served when 
the Polish throne was occupied by a prince independent 
of Russia and not over friendly with Prussia. Could 
Maria Theresa have been persuaded to take a side, and, 
if necessary, have recourse to arms, it might have been 
18 



274 MARIA THERESA 

possible by supporting Branicki, or Prince Xavier of Saxony, 
to avoid the threatened extension of Russian influence. . . . 
But the years of anxiety through which she had passed, and 
the sufferings to which she had seen her people subjected, 
had excited in her such a detestation of war that her whole 
policy was governed by a fixed determination to avoid it." 1 
Since she was not prepared forcibly to uphold the Polish 
Nationalists, her protest against Russian interference with 
the election was perfectly futile. When the Emperor and 
the King of the Romans returned from Frankfort in the 
spring of 1764, the election of Stanislaus could easily be 
predicted. By the month of August it was an accomplished 
fact. 

The Electress was naturally distressed that the sceptre 
of Poland should pass so completely from; the Saxon dynasty. 
But there was nothing to be gained by falling out with Maria 
Theresa, whose son was apparently going to marry either her 
sister or her sister-in-law. The latter seemed for a while 
to have the better chance of becoming Queen of the 
Romans. True, the Empress was no more successful than 
her husband and Kaunitz had been in extorting any ex- 
pression of preference from Joseph. With entire personal 
unconcern he listened to her homilies on duty and matri- 
mony and Saxony, merely reiterating his desire that her 
will should be his law. His failure to connect himself 
more closely with the Duke of Parma had not interrupted 
their familiar correspondence, but there is a pitiful change 
in the tone of the younger man's letters. The vision of a 
love stronger than death is less clearly perceived than 
hitherto, and the prevailing mood is either apathy or reck- 
lessness. Thus he writes: "As I have not been able to 
combine solid advantage with what would have been con- 
genial to myself, I am forced to decide for solids pure and 
simple. I am assured by their Majesties, who have made 
searching inquiries, that Princess Kunigunda of Saxony pos- 
sesses a well-developed and fundamentally solid character. 
She has virtues, but no trace of the brilliancy in which I 
have been wont to find my delight. She is said to be 
capable of taking a sane view of things in general, to be 

1 Bright, Joseph II, p. 2. 



THE SECOND MARRIAGE OF JOSEPH 275 

gentle in manner, and used to; get on well with a big 
family. These qualities ought to content a man who is only 
marrying from a sense of obligation, and who asks from 
his yoke-fellow nothing more than to be left in peace. The 
outward appearance of the Princess is not belauded, and 
though I might be philosophic enough to disregard this, 
their Majesties, out of their affection and consideration 
for me, desire that I should see her before binding myself 
in any way. Accordingly, on the 6th of October, I am 
going with my brother to Prague and thence to Teplitz, 
where I shall meet the Electress and the Princess of Saxony. 
Ats I have only to pass judgment on what meets the eye, I 
do not propose to stay more than four-and-twenty hours." 

At the Court of Dresden Kunigunda was deservedly 
popular. Given fair play she could even make her associates 
forget her homeliness of feature and scragginess of figure. 
At Teplitz, where she was looked at as if she had been 
an animal for sale, her real nature was undiscerned. Joseph, 
on his return to Vienna, reported that she was singularly 
unseductive, but that he would marry her if that was the 
wish of his parents. They replied that he had better leave 
the subject in abeyance till he had seen the Princess of 
Bavaria. The new tour was arranged, but it was a merci- 
less description of Josepha that the Prince dispatched to 
his father-in-law. " Her age is six-and-twenty. She has 
never had smallpox, and the very thought of the disease 
makes me shudder. Her figure is short, thick-set, and 
without a vestige of youthful charm. Her face is covered 
with spots and pimples, and her teeth are horrible. If I 
were left to myself, she could never tempt me into a re- 
lationship in which I have known the very opposite of all 
this. I have put the matter plainly before their Majesties, 
and implored them in the very difficult circumstances to 
decide what I should do." 

Surely it was time to make an end of a cruel and 
degrading farce. The Empress and her son, each wanting 
to satisfy the other, had become hopelessly confused as to 
their respective motives. " I am persuaded," says Joseph, 
" that the political considerations are not worth the sacri- 
fice; but who can resist the promptings of filial affection, 
especially for a mother so dear, so worthy of all reverence?" 



276 MARIA THERESA 

And, it might be added, so lacking in imaginative insight 
that she could not perceive her son's unfitness to come to 
any immediate decision as to his future. If she had even 
followed her own impulse and insisted on the Saxon alliance, 
she would have brought less suffering on her victim and 
herself. But again she hesitated, while it may be inferred 
that the Emperor was more explicit. Joseph asserts that he 
was given to understand that his marriage with the Bavarian 
Princess would be a popular step, and that therefore both 
parents desired her to have the preference. This was 
clearly a mistake. To Marie, absent at the moment, the 
Empress announced the engagement by writing: " You are 
to have a sister-in-law, and I a daughter-in-law. Un- 
fortunately it is Princess Josepha. It went against the 
grain to have anything to do with a settlement without my 
son's co-operation. But neither to me alone, nor to the 
Emperor, nor to Kaunitz, would he express any preference. 
. . . The worst of it is that we must pretend to be pleased 
and happy. My head and my heart are not at one on this 
subject, and it is difficult to retain my equanimity." 

On January 25th, 1765, the travesty of a marriage was 
celebrated at Schonbrunn. Festivities of every description 
served to keep up appearances. Union with the daughter of 
"The Bold Bavarian " had at least saved Joseph from a new 
father-in-law. Four weeks after the wedding he resumed 
his correspondence with the D.uke of Parma. It was the 
one relief of the tortured spirit. " Pestered," he says, 
" with a constant round of what people call pleasure and 
entertainment, I have hardly a moment to myself. Yet I 
must make time to write to you, for almost the only happi- 
ness left to me is that of easing my mind to my dear friend 
and the honoured father of the loved one who has gone from 
my sight, but is still enthroned within my heart. Oh, what 
a difference now, and how miserably I misjudged myself. 
I thought I was strong enough to refrain from compari- 
sons and subdue the inevitable feeling of revulsion. But 
human weakness has got the upper hand with me, and I 
will not conceal from you that I am utterly wretched. I 
have an irreproachable wife who loves me, whom I esteem 
by reason of her good qualities. But because I know 
what it is to worship my wife, I feel sorry for this prin- 



THE SECOND MARRIAGE OF JOSEPH 277 

cess whom I cannot pretend to love. It is useless to reason 
with oneself where the outgoings of the heart are concerned, 
and yet it is so contrary to my nature to play the hypocrite. 
You, my father, who understand what is meant by refinement 
of thought, will comprehend that it is less on my own 
account than from an honourable feeling for her that I 
find it terrible to be loved and unable to make any genuine 
response. I will keep to the path of honour, and if I 
cannot be an affectionate husband, at least she will have In 
me a friend who will appreciate her good points, and 
treat her with every imaginable consideration." 

Alas for the weakness of human nature ! Joseph failed 
to compass even this minor degree of friendship. Em- 
barrassed by his wife's ill-advised display of emotion, he 
withdrew into an inner world of his own. Her well-being 
became to him a matter of profound indifference. He had 
not even the grace to spare her when the spirit of mockery 
took possession of him. 

Yet the dignity with which she comported herself in 
her trying position might have provoked involuntary ad- 
miration. At first it seemed as if no place could be found 
for her in the family circle. The Empress, like her son, 
made comparisons, and there was no warmth in her atten- 
tions. Amongst her sisters-in-law Josepha had no friend. 
Marianne, the privileged invalid, was usually in her own 
fenced-off apartments. Marie deliberately kept the new- 
comer at arm's length. Elizabeth, the loveliest of all the 
sisters, was not the most responsive of companions. As 
her mother scathingly remarked: " It mattered not if the 
look of admiration came from a prince or a Swiss guard, as 
long as some one was doing homage to her beauty, Eliza- 
beth was satisfied." Amelia could be kindly when she 
chose, but she was a creature of moods, and generally in 
disgrace with her mother on account of her laziness. 
Though Josepha was fond of children, she had little inter- 
course with the younger members of the household. She 
would have tried to win the affection of her stepdaughter, 
but since the death of Little Theresa's mother Marie had 
cared for the child as if she had been her own, and she 
would brook no interference in that quarter. During the 
first months of her married life the unfortunate Queen had 



278 MARIA THERESA 

but one friend at the Austrian Court, and that was the 
Emperor. Moved partly by pity for her loneliness, partly 
by a sense of responsibility for her being there at all, Francis 
took pains to give her an assurance of protection and kindly 
interest. He was touched by the grateful and quite un- 
critical affection which he received in return. It was the 
solitary instance in which Josepha had a slight advantage 
over her gifted predecessor. 






CHAPTER XXVII 

THE MARRIAGE OF LEOPOLD AND DEATH OF 
THE EMPEROR FRANCIS 

T NABLE to take to her new daughter-in-law, Maria 
Theresa fell to dreaming of what might have been 
K^y with the Infanta in the part of Queen of the 
Romans. Yet she had no sure ground for supposing that 
her cherished idea would at any time have found favour 
with the King of Spain. He showed not the slightest in- 
clination for a change of son-in-law. More than once 
during Joseph's widowhood, he pressed for an early mar- 
riage between his daughter, then in her nineteenth year, 
and Leopold. The Empress naturally sought to delay the 
event as long as possible. In Archduke Charles the Princess 
would have had a husband who numbered more months 
than herself, but she was a year and a half older than 
Leopold. It was finally settled that the wedding should 
take place in the summer of 1765, when the bridegroom 
would be eighteen. 

The Infanta's imagination had evidently been fired by 
reports of the festive side of the Austro -Bavarian alliance. 
Her father came to the conclusion that, if she were made 
much of in Vienna, she would take ill with the humdrum 
life of the Tuscan Court. He therefore stipulated that she 
should be married at some provinical city and go straight 
to Florence. It was decided that for a bride landing at 
Genoa and returning to Italy a week or two later, the 
most convenient rendezvous would be Innsbruck, the capital 
of Tyrol. 

The civil governor of the province, Count Enzenberg, 
had married one of Maria Theresa's favourite ladies-in- 
waiting. Hence the confidential tone of the letters in which 

279 



2 8o MARIA THERESA 

the Empress gives directions for the lodging and entertain- 
ment of the troops of visitors who would presently con- 
verge on the little Alpine town. She urges the need of 
foresight with regard to provisions. On no account would 
she have her Tyrolese subjects associate her presence with 
a rise in the price of food. 

A new gateway in the form of a triumphal arch was to 
be a feature of the preparations at Innsbruck. " I hear," 
writes the Empress, " that you propose to build it of stone. 
That is well, for then it will serve as a lasting memorial 
of the occasion. I will send you a sketch of the sort of 
thing I would like. I saw a most satisfactory arch at 
Waizen, very simple and quite in the Roman style. The 
Innsbruck one must be very high. It might be illuminated 
on three evenings — in honour of our arrival, of the coming 
of the bride, and again on the wedding-night." As an, 
adjunct to the predominantly mediaeval Innsbruck of 1765,, 
the pretentious classic arch, in all its hideous newness, must 
have been a still more incongruous object than it is at 
the present day. 

By the month of March arrangements were so far ad- 
vanced that Maria Theresa wrote to Countess Enzenberg: 
" The next dispatch from Spain will settle the time of our 
coming. I think it will be early in July. We want to be 
in residence a few days before the arrival of the Princess, 
and we think of staying till the 2nd or 9th of September. 

. . I look forward to seeing you. I need a little com- 
forting, for I am weary and depressed — not without reason. 
Love me always, and believe me always yours." 

On June 24th the Infanta sailed from Cartagena. About 
the same date the Empress informed her Innsbruck friend 
that the Imperial travellers would set out on July 4th. 
With obvious relief it was announced that the Queen of 
the Romans was out of health and would remain in Vienna. 
" I am willing to believe in her goodness," adds her mother- 
in-law, "but she is neither pretty nor very agreeable." 

At forty-eight Maria Theresa viewed the approach of 
summer with the same apprehension as in her girlhood. 
" I am simply dreading the heat," she says. To avoid 
journeying at midday, she arranged to leave the Hofburg 
at four in the morning. The Emperor had not the same 



THE MARRIAGE OF LEOPOLD 281 

partiality for early starts, neither did he care to be hurried 
in taking leave of the seven children who were staying 
behind. When seated in his carriage he still delayed the 
signal for departure, and ordered an attendant to bring 
the Archduchess Antoinette. In after years she used to 
recall how, as a girl of nine, she had been hastily lifted 
into the Imperial chariot for a last embrace from the father 
whom she was never to see again. 

Despite the early hour, the streets were lined with en- 
thusiastic spectators who cheered the travellers as they pro- 
ceeded, first to St. Stephen's to hear Mass, and thence to 
the city boundary. Accompanying the Emperor and Em- 
press were the bridegroom, his brother Joseph, his sisters 
Marianne and Marie, and his uncle and aunt, Prince Charles 
and Princess Charlotte of Lorraine. Kaunitz, who on the 
occasion of Joseph's second marriage had been advanced 
to the rank of Prince of the Empire, was in attendance 
on their Majesties, together with other holders of State 
offices, and a seemingly endless retinue. It was, in fact, 
an exodus of the entire Court. 

Innsbruck was reached on July 1 5th. There the Imperial 
party was joined by a guest specially invited by the Em- 
peror. It was the Duke de Chablais, son of the King of 
Sardinia and the elder sister of Francis. Every one knew 
with what intention the meeting had been brought about. 
To Archduchess Marie the thought of marrying any one but 
Prince Albert of Saxony was revolting. They had had 
opportunities of seeing each other when the Court was 
resi'dent in Pressburg, and the devotion was no longer one- 
sided. At the first hint of what was in contemplation, Marie 
implored her mother to save her from the misery of union 
with this unknown cousin. The situation appealed to the 
Empress. She was frankly sympathetic, but declined to 
intervene before the departure for Innsbruck. As she sagely 
remarked, opposition at an early stage would confirm the 
Emperor in his determination, while it was possible that 
he might change his mind when he had seen his nephew. 
However, she did not propose to let the Duke de Chablais 
have the field to himself. Albert was also invited to Inns- 
bruck. Prince Clement of Saxony, now a full-fledged 
bishop, was to be the chief celebrant at the marriage. 



282 MARIA THERESA 

The brothers were amongst the earlier arrivals in Tyrol 
and took part in the welcome of the Emperor, Empress, and 
bridegroom. 

There was, however, no news of the bride. For three 
weeks, Leopold's former Governor, Count Thurn, had been 
waiting at Genoa with an Austrian suite for the Infanta. 
To Genoa came also Louise of Parma, who was to proceed 
to Madrid with her cousin's returning escort. She was 
a very sad and lonely young princess; for the father, in 
whose companionship she had left Parma, had been taken 
ill on the journey. At Alessandria it was found that the 
Duke was in the first stage of smallpox. His daughter 
was hurried on to the coast. The Spanish flotilla, delayed 
by storms, did not put into port till July 18th. Then the 
girls who were exchanging countries, spent a few days 
together, sorrowful days at the last. For word came from 
Alessandria of the death of the Duke of Parma. 

At Innsbruck, too, the unexpected news caused deep regret. 
Both Emperor and Empress had been warmly attached to 
Don Philip. But their sense of loss was nothing to that 
of Joseph, who, had been deprived of the sole means of 
escape from the isolation of his inward life. 

On July 30th, the Emperor and Leopold set out for 
Botzen to meet the long-looked-for bride. Three days 
later they accompanied her into the Tyrolese capital, duly 
passing under the triumphal arch. With this daughter-in- 
law, Maria Theresa was entirely satisfied. Her first im- 
pressions were recorded for the benefit of the Electress 
of Saxony. " The Infanta has a dazzling complexion, with 
a lovely colour, clear blue eyes, and the most beautiful 
hair I have seen in my life. She has a very fine figure, 
in a word, a charming young person, frank, and full of 
life and good spirits. I am quite taken with her. . . . My 
happiness might be too perfect if my son's health did not 
give me subject for anxiety. He has grown prodigiously 
this last year, and is just like a skeleton. During the 
journey he also showed signs of fever, which made us 
very uneasy." 

The anxiety increased when it became evident that Leo- 
pold had contracted a chill during his absence from Inns- 
bruck. On the wedding-day he was so far from well that 



THE MARRIAGE OF LEOPOLD 283 

it was with difficulty he got through his part in the cere- 
mony. When it was over, he had to be carried from the 
chapel to bed. The illness seems to have been pleurisy, 
and for several days he was in a very critical condition. 
He had only reached the first stage of convalescence, and 
his mother was beginning to breathe more freely, when 
she was suddenly called to the endurance of a sorrow which 
overwhelmed her at the time and threw its shadow over 
all her remaining years. 

When it became evident that Leopold would have to 
reserve all his strength for the journey to Florence, there 
was no further object in delaying the public celebrations 
of his marriage. In the absence of the bridegroom, the 
other members of the Imperial Family redoubled their efforts 
to ensure the success of the various festivities. On August 
1 8th a special performance at the theatre was to be fol- 
lowed by a supper at the palace. The Emperor had com- 
plained of illness during the previous night, but, feeling 
better in the morning, he rose as usual and fulfilled the 
engagements for the day. To obtain a brief rest between 
the evening functions, he left the theatre before the close 
of the performance. He had come to the end of the 
corridor between the playhouse and the residence, when a 
return of the distressing symptoms of the night before 
made him glad to lean back in the angle of a doorway. 
Joseph, his only companion, proposed that he should be 
seated while the physician was sent for. The Emperor 
maintained that it was but a temporary feeling of discom- 
fort. He insisted that no alarm should be given, neither 
would he let his son wait for him. The latter withdrew, but 
kept his father in sight, and was ready to rush to his 
assistance when, after taking a few steps, Francis seemed on 
the point of falling. There was no further delay in sum- 
moning help. Doctors and confessor were on the spot 
immediately. The Emperor was carried into a little ante- 
room and every effort was made to restore consciousness. 
But there was no rally from the apoplectic seizure, no sign 
of life from the moment when he fell back into the arms 
of his son. 

Joseph's first thought was of his mother; but scarcely 
had the fatal truth been realized when the Empress entered 



284 MARIA THERESA 

the room. Her inquiries about the commotion in the palace 
had elicited that something had happened to the Emperor, 
and she had hurried to the spot. She was prepared for 
alarming illness, but not for the blow that struck at the 
very root of her being. Stunned by its suddenness and 
severity, she knelt at her husband's side, dry-eyed, in- 
articulate, incapable of movement till for her own sake 
she was led away almost by force. 

" Never can I forget that evening," writes Prince Albert 
to the Electress of Saxony. "Think of it; the Emperor 
dead, the Empress supported to her apartments by her 
brother- and sister-in-law, who were almost as overcome as 
herself; the Archduke ill in bed, the Archduchesses pros- 
trate with grief, the guests arriving for the supper and 
bursting into tears till all the palace seemed to echo with 
sobs and groans." 

No one was suffered to follow the Empress into her 
room. Alone she forced herself to realize that there was 
no awaking from what seemed like a terrible dream. She 
could hardly remember a time when Francis had not held 
sway in her thoughts and in her heart. It had been 
her boast that she had loved him since she was six years 
old. When death had thrown a veil over his failings,, 
she forgot that her whole life had been spent in efforts to 
please him, and reproached herself bitterly for not having 
made more of the time together. In the dreary dawn, she 
bethought herself of something that might still be done. 
A faithful attendant was keeping watch in the ante-chamber. 
She was summoned as usual to help with the morning toilet. 
But there was to be no more elaborate dressing of the 
still abundant hair. The assistant was bidden to cut it 
quite short. As she was also deputed to bring her mistress 
some of the Emperor's hair, we may take it that what 
Maria Theresa had in view was not so much the widow's 
demonstration of woe, as a last exchange of love-tokens., 

In the course of the morning she asked to see the sons 
and daughters who were at Innsbruck. They all came — 
even Leopold, though he was still too weak to walk. Hav- 
ing assured herself that they were not suffering in health, 
she did not seek to detain them. She had ordered her 
husband's shroud to be made in her apartments, that it 



THE MARRIAGE OF LEOPOLD 285 

might in part be her own work. In this sorrowful task 
and in prayers for the departed soul, the first day of widow- 
hood was wholly occupied. She could not be persuaded 
to issue any order or express any wish whatsoever. Neither 
would she see her ministers. Thus responsibility of every 
description devolved on the young man of twenty-four who, 
by virtue of his recent coronation, became without further 
formality the Emperor Joseph II. 

Two days later Albert of Saxony expresses surprise that 
" the shock had caused no physical breakdown. Even the 
Archduke is better. He will leave on the 30th to take, 
possession of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany whereto he now 
succeeds as Sovereign. The Empress will delay her journey 
till September 1st, and travel part of the way by water 
so as not to arrive in Vienna till the 5th. By that time the 
funeral rites will be over." 

There is a touching picture of the widowed Empress when, 
on the eve of her doleful journey, she appeared for the 
first tinie amongst the members of the Court who were 
still in Tyrol. She noticed at once that one figure was 
standing apart from the others. It was no longer worth 
any one's while to curry favour with Princess Auersperg. 
Her dismissal" from Court was generally expected. But 
having ignored her husband's irregular connections in his 
lifetime, Maria Theresa was far too loyal to acknowledge 
any rivalry after his death. Her first words were addressed 
to the woman whose relations with the Emperor had caused 
her so much sorrow. 

By no one was Francis more sincerely mourned than 
by his daughter-in-law Josepha, who wrote to her sister: 
"I do not feel as if I could accept congratulations on 
my title of Empress. I have received it at too great a 
cost. If it had depended on me, I would have chosen 
rather to remain a queen than to survive a father-in-law 
who loaded me with kindness. I am powerless to express 
my sense of regret for his loss. He never made any 
difference between me and his own children, and I loved 
and honoured him as if he had indeed been my father. 
His memory is graven on my heart, and my gratitude to 
him will only cease with my life." 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE NEW CO-REGENCY 

LETTERS written by Maria Theresa in the first months 
of her loneliness recall Bacon's picture of " dispair- 
^/ ful widows who wait upon the shores of Death and 
waft unto him to draw near, wishing above others to see his 
star, that they might be led to his place." In answer |to, 
Tarouca's greeting for the New Year 1766, the Empress 
writes: " I hardly know myself now, for I have become 
like an animal with no true life or reasoning power. I 
forget everything. I get up at five. I go to bed late, 
and the livelong day I seem to do nothing. I do not even 
think. It is a terrible state to be in, but I revive a little 
when 1 see one of my old acquaintances." 

On February 1 2th, the thirtieth anniversary of her mar- 
riage, her thoughts turn to the days in Innsbruck, and she 
writes to Countess Enzenberg: " A year ago I counted this 
the happiest day of the twelvemonth. . . . To-day it has- 
been a comfort to me that the date coincided with Ash 
Wednesday. Ashes — that is my portion. I accept it with 
submission. I have spent the day of happy memories shut 
up alone in my private room, surrounded by the portraits 
of our great and beloved master. As the hours went by my 
thoughts were busy with my vanished bliss. Bitterly did I 
regret not to have made more of it while it was mine. 
Looking back, the thirty years appear to me more like 
ten, while the five months of my widowhood are like twenty 
long years. To celebrate the anniversary I am going to 
give away my wardrobe. The only dress I covet is the 
garment I shall wear upon my bier. It will signify re- 
union with the sole object of passionate love that my heart 

286 



THE NEW CO-REGENCY 287 

has known in this world. Think of the void in which I 
find myself now. Surely God must intervene in my lot to 
provide for the needs of my soul. I require solitude for 
doing penance and taking thought for my eternal salvation. 
More than ever do I long for my beloved Innsbruck. It 
seems to me that where I lost my peace of mind I might 
recover it again." 

But for the children still dependent on her, Maria Theresa 
might have obeyed the impulse to abdicate and return to 
Innsbruck, there to associate herself with her new religious 
foundation for women of rank. They were to be housed 
so close to the palace that they could use as an oratory the 
room in which the Emperor Francis had breathed his last. 
His wife had had it fitted up as a chapel. 

To Kaunitz, who left Tyrol at an earlier date than her- 
self, the Empress had written: " I am extraordinarily grate- 
ful to you for all your service and your counsel during the 
lifetime of our incomparable lord and master. ... In the 
dreary future I will follow your advice with the same con- 
fidence as in the past. In conformity therewith I am let- 
ting myself be dragged back to Vienna, wholly and solely 
to assume the guardianship of nine orphans. They are 
greatly to be pitied. Their good father idolized them, and 
could never refuse them anything. But it will be changed 
times now. I am exceedingly anxious about their future, 
which will be decided in the course of next winter. I 
count upon you, and will do nothing without knowing your 
mind. I can trust you with the interests of my family as 
confidently as with the business of the State." 

The reference to " next winter " indicates the hope that 
Francis might have made some testamentary provision for 
his younger sons and his daughters. The discovery of a 
will, dated 17 5 r, was a bitter disappointment. The Em- 
peror had left everything to his eldest son, even Tuscany. 
Fortunately he had afterwards reverted to the original in- 
tention of establishing a collateral dynasty in the Grand 
Duchy, so Leopold's inheritance was secure. " As for the 
other children," says Maria Theresa, " they are frustrated 
of everything. I shall have to support them all." She had, 
however, considerable sums at her disposal. The late Em- 
peror's business faculty had been a source of much profit 



288 MARIA THERESA 

to his consort, and she was not without hope that Joseph 
might be persuaded to mend the fortunes of his brothers 
and sisters in return for the powers she had conferred 
upon himself. 

Within a week of her return to Vienna she had appointed 
him Grand Master of the orders of merit, and co-Regent of 
the monarchy. The heads of the several departments of 
State took the oath to him there and then. In none of the 
countries concerned was any objection raised, not even in 
Hungary. True, there was no risk involved, for the Em- 
press-Queen was careful to reserve her right to supremacy 
in her hereditary dominions. Every formality was com- 
plied with before the end of the year, but Joseph's 
regency had virtually begun at the moment of his father's 
death. 

He did not come as a novice to the task of government. 
When he was eighteen, Bartenstein, his chief instructor in 
history and international law, suggested to the Empress the 
desirability of giving the Crown Prince some practical ex- 
perience of politics. It was therefore arranged that Joseph 
should frequent the deliberative councils of the main depart- 
ments of State — the Chancery (Executive), and the Minis- 
tries of Finance, War, and Justice. 

The pupil of Bartenstein, of Martini in legal and economic 
science ; of Daun, Laudon, and Lacy in the art of war, was 
qualified to form opinions on the prevailing system of ad- 
ministration. That he did not at first take kindly to detail 
is not surprising. 

Neither was his interest thoroughly roused when, shortly 
after his first marriage, he was associated with the new Council 
of State which Kaunitz had called into existence, to exercise 
authority over all the divisions of government, and thus 
do away with the want of cohesion which was the drawback 
of the system of Haugwitz. The members, nominated by the 
Crown, were men of experience and approved fidelity, and ex- 
perts in one or other of the leading branches of public service. 
Since, with the exception of the Chancellor, they could hold 
no State appointment concurrently with membership of the 
Council, they were expected to have a single eye to the 
interests of the monarchy as a whole. In January, 1761, 
the Emperor and Empress presided at the first sitting of 



THE NEW CO-REGENCY 289 

the Council. From the following May onwards, the Crown 
Prince was constantly in attendance at the meetings. A 
new departure necessarily involved much discussion of 
methods of procedure. To the impatient Joseph this seemed 
to involve great waste of time. " I expected," he says, " to* 
find myself in the midst of Solons and Lycurguses, and to 
listen to oracles of wisdom. Insteadj, I had to sit out long- 
winded speeches bristling with technicalities, and seem- 
ingly right over my head. But I was to blame in letting 
my thoughts wander from the subject in hand. I missed 
many an opportunity of acquiring sound knowledge." 

Joseph's apprenticeship to practical politics had two 
definite results. In the first place, he began to turn over 
in his own mind, t and to submit to the illuminating judg- 
ment of Isabella of Parma, plans of reform to be under- 
taken, if he were ever in a position to carry them out. In 
the second place he was profoundly impressed with the 
ability of Kaunitz, though the Chancellor certainly could 
not be exonerated from the general charge of verbosity. 

During the period following the death of Francis I, 
Kaunitz in turn was filled with admiration for the zeal with 
which Joseph devoted himself to the duties of his position. 
Clearly he had inherited his mother's tremendous capacity 
for hard work. The day's routine is described by the 
young Emperor himself in a letter to his brother Leopold. 
" At half -past six I am out of bed. I hear Mass, and by 
eight o'clock I am seated at my writing-table dispatching 
public business with the help of my new secretary. He is 
a man after my own heart, for he tells me the exact truth 
and calls everything by its proper name. Towards ten 
o'clock I see the two paymasters. Afterwards come the 
Ministers and others who have to be interviewed. Towards 
half -past twelve I take my morning report to my mother. 
Prince Kaunitz appears, according to his pleasing custom, 
at one o'clock, when we are about to sit down to table. 
The interview is to be short, of course, but many a time 
it lasts an hour and a half. Thereafter we are free to go 
to 'dinner. The spoon is hardly out of my mouth when I 
have to busy myself in turning out and examining the 
papers of his late Majesty. I have already made a sad 
round here in Vienna and in Schonbrunn. ... It is in- 
19 



290 MARIA THERESA 

conceivable the quantity, of documents I have to go 
through." 

This thorough search revealed no will of later date than 
the one already mentioned. Joseph accordingly entered into 
possession of twenty-two million gulden in money and securi- 
ties, and the income from estates in different parts af the 
country, as well as from the principality of Teschen. Seldom 
has a great inheritance been put to a more unselfish use. 
Called to share in the government of a country which a 
protracted and unsuccessful war had brought to the verge 
of bankruptcy, the new Emperor began by instituting all 
sorts of economies. He reduced the personnel of the 
Court, its ceremonial and expenditure. A picturesque 
feature disappeared when he dispensed with the pam- 
pered Swiss bodyguards. " He gave up the vast hunting 
establishment maintained by his father." 1 In the region 
round about Vienna he ordered the extermination of the 
dangerous and destructive wild boars. 

But the lessening of demands on the Treasury, however 
praiseworthy, could not enable the State to meet the most 
burdensome of its liabilities — the interest of five and six 
per cent on its huge debts. The day was at hand when 
an arbitrary reduction of interest would proclaim the in- 
solvency of the Government. To save the credit of the 
country Joseph made over to the Treasury the whole of 
his fortune as the nucleus of a fund for the regular con-^ 
version of the National Debt into four per cent securities. 
When offered the alternative of repayment or reduced in- 
terest, a larger number of investors than had been expected 
chose to retain' their bonds. In a letter to Leopold, dated 
two years later, Joseph was able to announce that only about 
four million gulden was still charged with interest at six, 
and thirteen million at five per cent. By 1775, when the 
co -regency had lasted ten years, " the revenue not only 
balanced expenditure, but there was actually a surplus of 
five and a half million gulden, a condition of affairs almost 
unprecedented in Austria." 2 

With no eyes save for the pressing necessities of his own 
country, Joseph sent peremptory directions to Florence for 

1 Germany, 1715-1815, p. 301. 2 lb., 301. 



THE NEW CO-REGENCY 291 

the transfer to Vienna of the portion of his father's for- 
tune which was invested in Tuscany. The Grand Duke's 
ministers were aghast at the proposal to withdraw large 
sums from the poverty-stricken principality. But Leopold's 
remonstrances with Joseph ended in so sharp an altercation 
that their mother was obliged to intervene. With the help 
of Kaunitz she contrived a settlement of what threatened to 
prove a serious quarrel. Once back in the sphere of 
politics, she had no further thought of quitting it. A few 
weeks later she told Countess Enzenberg that she was find- 
ing something of the nature of a soothing drug in throwing 
herself more completely than heretofore into the work of 
the State. " I stupefy myself with work," she writes, 
" till I have no time to think or feel." 

Other bereavements had followed hard on the death of 
the Emperor Francis. Within a month Maria Theresa was 
condoling with the widow of Haugwitz. " Early this morn- 
ing," 1 she writes, "I heard to my great sorrow that you 
had lost your husband, and the State and the Monarch a 
most faithful, indefatigable, and efficient Minister. No 
one can better testify to his great merits than myself. He 
alone in 1747 could devise the means of bringing order 
out of the terrible confusion in the management of public 
affairs. ... I knew his attachment to our great and dearest 
Emperor. I counted on his vigour to restore my flagging 
energy and lighten my burdens. God has suddenly called 
him away. He is happy. How I envy him." 

Five months later the Empress- Queen was lamenting the 
death of Count Daun. His errors of judgment were forgotten. 
He was remembered as the victor of Kolin, Hochkirch, and 
Maxen, and as an able President of the Council of War. 
Other men might discharge the official duties of Maria 
Theresa's old friends, but she knew they could never be her 
fellow-workers in the same intimate sense of the word. 
The loss of Daun prompted her to delegate part of her 
authority. In a letter to Count Silva-Tarouca she says,:: 
" I have assigned to my son all responsibility for the future 
of the army. His association with it must of necessity be 
closer than mine, and doubtless of longer duration. Its 

1 September nth, 1765. 



292 MARIA THERESA 

weal or woe depends on the measures he may take. 
If he likes, he can nominate his own Minister of War. 
Should he consult me, I see no one more competent than 
Lacy. The military department was the one nearest my 
heart. Having resigned my connection therewith, it will 
not cost me much to relinquish everything else." 

On the subject of Lacy's merits the Emperor was in full 
agreement with his mother. Daun was therefore succeeded 
by his own favourite staff officer, and Joseph paid not the 
slightest attention to the outcry that arose because the son 
of an Irish exile had been preferred to men of ancient 
lineage. There was, indeed, one commander, also of British 
extraction, to whom the monarchy was more beholden than 
to Lacy. But as Inspector-General of the Infantry, Laudon 
had employment that gave scope to his genius as a prac- 
tical commander, while administration was more particu- 
larly Lacy's province. " The latter did excellent work in 
improving the organization, drill, and equipment of the 
army, in establishing a definite General Staff, attending to 
fortification, and bringing the Supply Department properly 
under the control of the War Council." 

Of the officers in general the Emperor had no very high 
opinion. Too many of them, he said, had been drawn 
to their profession because of the honour attaching to it, 
but with little regard for its duties. He specially deplored 
their aloofness from the rank and file. His own sympathies 
were with the people as opposed to the privileged classes, 
with the lower ranks of the army, with the oppressed and 
half-starved peasantry, with the overworked and underpaid 
in any capacity. 

The most interested and appreciative witness of Joseph's 
whole-souled devotion to the good of the State was the 
Empress-Queen herself. But her approbation of his vivify- 
ing influence on military and financial affairs was tem- 
pered by grave misgivings in regard to the general trend 
of his policy. And conflicts were bound to ensue when he 
fell to criticizing her civil government and to condemn the 
preponderance of religious teaching in the current system 
of education. 

In outward appearance the young Emperor bore a strik- 
ing resiemblance to his mother. In disposition, and to some 




MARSHAL LACY 



THE NEW CO-REGENCY 293 

extent in character, they differed fundamentally. Maria 
Theresa's inherited reverence for the past inclined her to 
conservatism when circumstances or common sense did not 
absolutely dictate a departure from established custom. 
Her knowledge of the forces at work in the countries 
under her sway made her quick to discern the limits of 
practicability in the introduction of changes. 

Joseph, on the contrary, was a reformer of the most 
thoroughgoing type. So keen was his perception of flaws 
in the existing scheme of things that he failed to do justice 
to the progressive influences which had been at work for a 
quarter of a century. The changes he advocated were 
not always timely or necessary, and sometimes they were 
so sweeping as to be dangerous. For in spite of his demo- 
cratic leanings, he had a stronger belief in the power of a 
despotic ruler than the more experienced Empress- Queen. 

There was sound sense in his scathing denunciation of 
the vague and limited views that prevailed on the subject of 
education. . But his mother could not be otherwise than 
shocked and hurt by his description of " Good souls, who 
believe they have done everything possible to form the 
character of a great statesman when their son takes part 
in the Mass, tells his beads, confesses once a fortnight, 
and never looks into a book which the narrow understanding 
of a spiritual director has branded as objectionable. Would 
any one venture to dissent from the general verdict, ' That 
is a charming young man. How well he has been brought 
up ' ? True enough, I would say, if our State were a 
cloister and the surrounding neighbours were monks! " 

Now Maria Theresa's parting instructions to Leopold had 
been little more than an elaboration of the points held to be 
essential by the good souls, who were so hopelessly behind 
the times. She turned fiercely on the spirit of the new 
age as manifested in her co-Regent. When he pleaded for 
religious toleration and restriction of the censorship, his 
voice was as the voice of Frederick of Prussia saying, " In 
my country every one shall get to heaven in his own way." 

Maria Theresa was determined that her subjects should 
have no such liberty. Heresy was an unpardonable sin, 
for which no penalty could be too severe. Had she lived 
in the Middie Ages she could scarcely have shown more ani- 



294 MARIA THERESA 

mosity to the Jews, while Frederick's identification with 
German Protestantism made her suspect the loyalty of the 
Protestants in her own dominions. In Hungary there was 
much straining of the laws designed to safeguard theitr 
rights. And time has not yet obliterated the memory of 
notorious instances of the kidnapping of young Protestants 
in order to bring them up in the Catholic faith. In such 
cases it was vain to appeal to the Empress. If she took 
sides it was with the perpetrators of the infamy. 

Yet in her own estimation she seemed to be an advanced 
religious reformer. She had undoubtedly made herself a 
terror to idlers by procuring a reduction of the number of 
saints' days observed by abstaining from labour. She had 
also deprived the churches and convents of the abused right 
of sanctuary, and made it illegal for monastic vows to be 
taken before the age of twenty-five, and for an ecclesiastic 
to be present at the drawing up of a will. 

But though she could see the need of putting down 
abuses within the Church, she refused to admit that toler- 
ance was a subject worth serious consideration. As for the 
censorship, she would rather extend than limit its jurisdic- 
tion. Needless to say that, like all generous-natured bigots 
with favours to bestow, she was constantly being duped by 
religious impostors. She might almost be said to have put 
a premium on hypocrisy. It was at his peril that any one 
attached to the Court or prominent in the Civil or Military 
Service absented himself from the Easter Communion. Even 
Kaunitz, when detained by illness, deemed it expedient to 
send the Empress his certificate of preliminary confession, 
to show that he had meant to attend. 

Considering the number of subjects on which the co- 
Regents were at opposite poles, the wonder is, not that they 
had disagreements and battles royal, but that, on the whole, 
they worked together so harmoniously. There was no make- 
believe about their dissensions, and no limits to their 
plainness of speech. When the belligerents appealed to 
Kaunitz, he was often sorely put to it to find a middle course. 
Not infrequently his intellect sided with the Emperor, 
whereas his sympathy was always with the Empress. At 
intervals he resigned, and had to be coaxed into reaccept- 
ance of office. Joseph occasionally threatened to abandon 



THE NEW CO-REGENCY 295 

the regency, whereupon his mother yielded a point. Their 
deeply rooted affection for one another kept their quarrels 
free from any suspicion of rancour. It was possible for 
Maria Theresa to express wholesale condemnation of a course 
proposed by Joseph, and then to write: " As I end this long 
sermon, I take your face in my hands and kiss your fore- 
head. I trust you to pardon the tediousness of reading 
my scoldings, and to look only at the motive which prompts 
them. You know I desire nothing in this world so much' 
as that you should be esteemed and loved as you deserve." 
Joseph, quick to respond to the call of affection, at once 
replies: "Pardon, dearest mother, the fault of a son who 
loves you inexpressibly. The facts stated are only too true, 
but I expressed myself with undue vigour. I kneel at your 
feet to receive the kiss at the close of your letter. It gives 
me hope of being again taken into favour." 

Nothing could have been more in accordance with 
Joseph's personal wishes than to have the military depart- 
ment under his control. It carried with it a preponderating 
influence on the foreign policy of the country, which was 
not always wisely exerted. Thus it came about that Maria 
Theresa incurred blame for measures of which she disap- 
proved as strongly as any one. But loyalty to her son kept 
her from ever seeking to resume the power once conferred 
upon him. From the time of his closer connection with the 
army Joseph abandoned the Spanish dress that had so long 
been in vogue at the Austrian Court, and it was truly said 
of him that " his toilet was that of a common soldier, his 
wardrobe that of a sergeant, business his recreation, and his 
life perpetual motion." No monarch ever went about with 
less formality. To him the people of Vienna are indebted 
for their parks. Till Joseph's accession to power only the 
aristocracy had the right to walk and drive in the Prater. 
This expanse of woodland had originally been a suburban 
game preserve. Dr. Burney's description of it still holds 
good. " There is verdure on the ground, and some of the 
largest trees to be seen anywhere, with frequent views of the 
Danube. A coach road has been cut through it. It is the 
Hyde Park of Vienna, but more flat and gloomy than that of 
London." 

When the young Emperor obtained his mother's consent 



296 MARIA THERESA 

to throwing open the Prater to the citizens in general, a 
courtier remarked that when His Majesty went walking there 
in future, he would have to rub shoulders with the common 
people. " If I could only go walking in the company of 
my equals," replied Joseph, " I would be obliged to take 
exercise in the Imperial vault." 1 

•' This witticism has most strangely been attributed to Austrian princes of 
the present day. Save on the lips of the one and only emperor in Europe it 
has no point. And as it is recorded by Wraxall, it cannot be of later date than 
Joseph II. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

THE ELDER DAUGHTERS OF MARIA THERESA 

MAR*A THERESA could not have given her chief 
Minister a stronger proof of confidence than when 
she commended to his care the destinies of her 
children. That is to say, of her daughters and of Maxi- 
milian, her youngest-born; for Ferdinand's future position 
as Governor of Milan had been determined in the lifetime 
of his father. From the point of view of the young people, 
it was not a happy choice of guardian. Their individual 
well-being was likely to be a minor consideration, if their 
marriages could serve to buttress up the Chancellor's system 
of foreign policy. Fortunately the Empress did not at once 
begin to take her cue from Kaunitz. No motive but desire 
for their happiness influenced her decisions with regard to 
her two elder daughters. 

In February, 1766, at the age of twenty-seven, Arch- 
duchess Marianne was installed as abbess of a religious 
foundation at Prague. Its members were women of noble 
birth, and it was serving as a model for the similar institu- 
tion at Innsbruck. Maria Theresa had made a special 
journey to her Bohemian capital in 17 S3, in order to be 
present at the inauguration of the Damenstift. She had 
promised then to shed lustre on the sisterhood by nominat- 
ing one of her daughters as a future superior. The office 
was provisionally allotted to the second Archduchess, but 
it had become manifest that Marie Christine had no vocation 
for celibacy, whereas the idea of a marriage for Marianne 
had never been seriously contemplated. 

Her features were not unpleasing, but she was handi- 
capped by slight spinal deformity and marked weakness of 
the lungs. When she is referred to in contemporary letters, 

297 



298 MARIA THERESA 

it is usually as suffering from some severe form of ailment. 
Time after time, her life was despaired of, and she received 
the last Sacraments; but her resilient power seemed in- 
exhaustible. While robust members of her family suc- 
cumbed to smallpox and other diseases, Marianne always 
struggled back to " the warm precincts of the cheerful 
day." As a rule, the chronic invalid received scant sym- 
pathy from Maria Theresa, but she was only concerned to 
alleviate the lot of the daughter whose gentle, uncomplain- 
ing disposition and mental brightness made her limited 
existence the more pathetic. 

Marianne's induction into her ecclesiastical charge took 
place at a chapter Specially convened in the Hofburg. She 
was under no obligation to reside with her community. It 
was enough that she should lend it the glamour of her 
name ; but she had expressed her intention of spending some 
time in Prague. A position of eminence awaited her there, 
and of independence; for maternal solicitude had caused 
no less a sum than two million gulden to be settled on the 
young abbess. But when it came to fixing a date ipf 
departure, she could not tear herself away from her home. 
Her mother wrote to Countess Enzenberg: "You will be 
surprised to hear that Marianne has lost all inclination to 
go to Prague, and I prefer to let her do as she likes in 
the matter." 

To Albert of Saxony and Marie Christine, the death of 
the Emperor Francis seemed a summons to abandon hope. 
While he lived they had the powerful influence of the 
Empress on their side. When he was gone, they foresaw 
his widow's punctilious compliance with all his known 
wishes. But the lovers had nothing to fear from the 
woman to whom the present had become less real than the 
days of her own protracted courtship. She was indeed 
prepared to give effect to the proposal for a matrimonial 
alliance with Sardinia, but only if Elizabeth or Amelia could 
be substituted for Marie as the bride of the Duke de 
Chablais. 

A less sympathetic character might have put off doing 
anything till after the period of mourning, but Maria 
Theresa saw no need of prolonging suspense. When she 
had ascertained that her co -Regent was frankly interested 



ELDER DAUGHTERS OF MARIA THERESA 299 

in his sister's romance and ready to stretch a few points 
in order to hasten the happy ending, their intentions were 
announced to Marie, who was almost beside herself with 
relief and gratitude. Joseph then contrived an informal 
meeting with Prince Albert and repeated the good news. 
" It was a long time before he would believe that I was 
speaking seriously," says the Emperor in a letter to Leopold. 
" When he was convinced beyond doubt, you can imagine 
the look that came over his face at the thought of a speedy 
fulfilment of the cherished hope of the last six years. To 
me, the philosopher Joseph, nothing could be more agree- 
able than this assurance of congenial society for the rest 
of my life. As there is no pleasure for me in my own 
household, I will seek distraction in the new one. I pre- 
dict that the moments I can devote to relaxation will be 
spent with my sister and brother-in-law." 

The forecast of the disillusioned philosopher rested on 
the assumption that Vienna would be the head- quarters of 
Prince Albert and his consort. Just then, however, occurred 
the death of Batthyany, the Palatine of Hungary. Instead 
of appointing a native-born successor, Maria Theresa con- 
ferred on Prince Albert the office of Lieutenant-Governor 
of the Kingdom. 

This was at variance with the spirit of her pledges to the 
famous Diet of 1741, and calls for more justification than 
her ostensible reason, that the late Viceroy had been a 
lukewarm supporter of her interests at the Diet which sat 
at Pressburg from July, 1764, to May, 1765. It is true that 
she was bitterly disappointed by renewed failure to obtain 
from Hungary a more proportionate contribution to the 
general exchequer. Since 175 1, she had been seeking in 
various ways to flatter the national sentiment, allay the 
suspicions of patriots, and to win some degree of com- 
pliance with her wishes by cultivating a personal relation- 
ship with representatives of the privileged classes. 

Thus, in 1760, she instituted the Royal Hungarian Body- 
guard. Every county in Hungary could nominate two young 
nobles to be members of the guard. \ palace was built 
for them in Vienna, and extraordinary favour was shown 
them at Court. Again, in 1764, before going to Pressburg 
to open her third Diet, Maria Theresa founded the Order 



3 oo MARIA THERESA 

of St. Stephen. It was designed to reward distinguished 
service to the State in a non-military capacity. Its asso- 
ciation with the canonized King of Hungary was un- 
doubtedly gratifying to his latter-day compatriots, though 
it could not tempt them to earn it by any renunciation of 
privilege. 

As in 1 75 1, so also in 1764-5, Maria Theresa could 
obtain but a fraction of her desired increase of revenue., 
The Diet complained that the promise of redress of griev- 
ances in return for the earlier contribution had not been 
kept. On the contrary, the chief grievance had become 
more burdensome. This was the incidence of a heavy 
tax on exports from Hungary to Austria, while but a light 
duty was imposed on goods sent from Austria to Hungary. 
Thus the Magyar kingdom was reduced to a state of com- 
mercial servitude to the other dominions of the Sovereign. 
"For till the year 1776, when the port of Fiume was 
annexed to Hungary, it had no connection with the sea, 
still less with foreign countries." The one outlet was 
through Austria. Maria Theresa admitted the grievance, 
and the concession of the seaport and a direct road to it 
was her subsequent effort to afford relief. But at the 
frontier between her two monarchies, she could do little in 
the way of redress. Her efforts merely stirred up dis- 
content amongst her Austrian subjects who resented Hun- 
gary's meagre contribution to the general expenditure, and 
insisted that the balance must somehow be adjusted. 

The chief result of the Diet of 1764-5 was Maria 
Theresa's decision to abandon attempts to effect progress 
in Hungary through the medium of the national assembly. 
It had been unanimously opposed to a measure for better- 
ing the lot of the peasantry. But this, she declared, was a 
matter that concerned her conscience, and " for the sake of 
a few magnates and nobles, she did not intend to risk 
eternal damnation." Accordingly, by the exercise of her 
royal prerogative, she issued, in 1767, an ordinance known 
as the Urbartum, regulating the position of the peasants, 
and fixing the limits of their obligation to the landed pro- 
prietors. They also received a legal status, and right of 
redress; for disputes regarding the working of the Ur- 
barium were not decided by the county courts, but by 



ELDER DAUGHTERS OF MARIA THERESA 301 

specially appointed royal commissioners. " It is one of 
the undying merits of the great Queen that in this manner, 
without deranging the existing order, she held out hopes 
of a better future to the peasants, who knew at last who 
was concerned in their welfare." 1 

The Viceroyalty of Prince Albert of Saxony needs no 
further explanation. The influence of a Magyar palatine 
would assuredly have been adverse to a project which 
tended to undermine the rampant feudalism. Apart from 
their dogged resistance to her parliamentary proposals, 
Maria Theresa had no quarrel with the privileged classes 
of Hungary. She hoped to attach them more firmly to her 
dynasty by the establishment at Pressburg of a second 
Habsburg Court. 

As a mere matter of sentiment it was also pleasing to 
her that her prospective son-in-law should succeed to a 
position once held by her own husband. As in 1736, a 
Governor of Hungary was coming from Pressburg to Vienna 
to marry an Austrian princess. Maria Theresa had insti- 
tuted a further parallel between the two bridegrooms by 
enabling Albert to assume the title of Duke of Teschen, 
or rather, as he combined it with his former designation, 
Prince of Saxe-Teschen. The little principality on the 
Silesian frontier had been the only territory actually in 
possession of Francis of Lorraine at the time of his mar- 
riage. At his death it passed with his other domains to 
his eldest son. Joseph consented to let his mother acquire 
them all at an easy valuation, and all were included in her 
munificent settlement on her daughter and son-in-law. 
Marie received in addition a dowry of four million gulden. 
Not content with this, the Empress obtained a guarantee 
from the heir to the throne that after the death of Charles, 
of Lorraine, Marie and her husband should become joint- 
governors of the Netherlands. 

On April 8th, 1766, the wedding was quietly celebrated 
at the Castle of Schlosshof, near the Hungarian frontier, and 
the Prince and Princess went into immediate residence at 
Pressburg. Maria Theresa felt as if she had sustained ai 
fresh bereavement. To her daughter's anxious inquiries 

1 Marczali, Hungary in the Eighteenth Century, p. 193. 



302 MARIA THERESA 

she replied: " I do not think there is anything wrong with 
my health, but neither am I at ease. My heart still feels! 
the pang of the latest parting. Within eight months I 
have been severed by death from the husband I adored, 
and, by distance, from a son most worthy of my affection, 
and a daughter who, since the loss of her father, has been 
my chief source of happiness, my comforter, and my friend. 
I was like a silly child this afternoon. At three o'clock, 
I heard your sisters coming through my rooms, and, for 
a moment, I verily believed that I was going to see my 
dear Mimi again. I soon remembered that just then she 
was doing the honours of her own home, and rejoicing in 
her association with the husband who so dearly loves her. 
That is a happy issue from all my. anxiety during the last 
two years, and one for which I can never render sufficient! 
thanks to God. By His grace to you and your grace to 
one another, I trust that your happiness will not only be 
continued, but that it will increase from day to day." 

Maria Theresa's hope was abundantly fulfilled. And she 
presently discovered that, instead of the dreaded blank, she 
had gained a new interest in life. A vigorous corre- 
spondence and frequent exchange of visits prevented any 
weakening of the intimacy between the young wife and 
her mother. Their relationship was indeed not unlike that 
of Queen Victoria and Princess Henry of Battenberg. At 
the Hofburg and the other Imperial residences special 
rooms were set apart for the use of Albert and " Mimi." 
Often Her Majesty's rapidly driven coach took the road to 
Pressburg. Even when she could only stay a few hours, 
she felt rested and refreshed by throwing off the trammels 
of State, and sharing the happy private life of her daughter 
and the son-in-law, who not only called her mother, but 
was in truth a devoted and, as it behoved him, a very 
grateful son. 

While the Saxon and Sardinian princes were competing 
for the hand of Marie Christine, a third suitor was making 
overtures to the Austrian Court for a marriage with her 
sister Elizabeth. This was Stanislaus Poniatowski, the new 
King of Poland. It was a startling suggestion that a 
Habsburg princess, with her innumerable ancestors, should 
share the mushroom sovereignty of a Polish noble, and 



ELDER DAUGHTERS OF MARIA THERESA 303 

Stanislaus scored a point when it was not immediately 
rejected. So far as individual qualities went, he was suffi- 
ciently well-equipped, being handsome in person, not much 
over thirty, and of acknowledged mental superiority. More- 
over, " he was showing himself less amenable to Russian 
authority than had been expected." It was the policy of 
Catherine II to absorb Poland if she could, and failing that 
to subject the ancient kingdom to Russian influence. Neither 
of these courses would have been to the liking of Frederick 
the Great, since both would have put barriers in the way of 
his acquisition of the coveted Polish province of West Prussia. 
Stanislaus hoped that, by the judicious offer of concessions, 
he might induce " Austria and Prussia to combine to set 
the Polish constitution on a rational basis, and to help him 
to assert and maintain his independence. Poland might thus 
become an efficient barrier against the Russian advance." 1 

Aware that the difficulties in the way of realizing such 
a scheme would certainly be more apparent to Austria than 
to Prussia, Poniatowski desired a matrimonial union which 
would bring him into close intimacy with the Empressi- 
Queen. Unfortunately for his patriotic aspirations, the 
memory of Silesia still blocked the way to any joint action 
on the part of Austria and Prussia. " Maria Theresa would 
have been glad to unite with France to guarantee the 
integrity of Poland, but she distrusted Frederick too much 
to co-operate with him in anything." 2 Might he not leave 
her in the lurch with the power of Russia ranged against; 
her? King Stanislaus was therefore given to understand 
that, as his throne was wanting in stability, his lack of 
private fortune was an insuperable hindrance to his mar- 
riage with Archduchess Elizabeth. 

It is a matter for lasting regret that Maria Theresa could 
not bring herself to adopt a bolder policy in regard to} 
Poland. Neither Joseph nor Kaunitz was averse from 
alliance with Frederick if anything was to be gained 
thereby. And not only would Elizabeth have obtained the 
title of queen which she coveted as an offset to her beauty,, 
but, what was of infinitely more importance, Poland might 
have been saved from absolute disintegration. The Empress 

1 Germany, 1715-1815, p. 304. 8 lb. , 304. 



304 MARIA THERESA 

too would have escaped the pain of being driven into a false 
position when the first partition of the ancient kingdom 
took place. While she temporized with Poniatowski, the 
great opportunity was lost. The Czarina got wind of the 
negotiations and peremptorily ordered the Polish King to 1 
desist, as she would never consent to such a marriage. 
When he persisted in his attempt to reform the constitu- 
tion, he received another injunction to refrain, this time 
from an agent of the Prussian monarch. For in default 
of Austria, Frederick had cast in his lot with Russia. 
Stanislaus was informed that it was to his own interest 
" that Poland should remain in its present state of anarchy." 
This was in 1766. By the end of the following year the 
whole country was plunged into civil war, and Stanislaus 
being identified with Russia, the nationalist party was hope- 
lessly estranged from him. 

Elizabeth is said to have been as disappointed as her 
suitor that nothing came of the marriage proposal. But it 
can be readily imagined that the idea of a union between 
the Archduchess and the Duke de Chablais was more con- 
genial to her mother. It was the subject of much negotia- 
tion. The Prince was a younger son, and the Empress did 
not see her way to providing an establishment for a second 
daughter. Still the partisans of the Duke did not abandon 
all hope of a settlement. The matter was still pending when 
Elizabeth's prospects were lost sight of in a wave of calamity 
that swept over the Imperial household. 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE FOURFOLD TRAGEDY— MARIA THERESA'S 
ENCOURAGEMENT OF INOCULATION 

THE carnival of 1767 marked the close of a livelier 
season than Vienna had known for two years. Maria 
Theresa still held aloof from all public festivities, 
but the Imperial Family was well represented. Ceremonial 
duty brought together that ill-matched couple, the Emperor 
and his consort; and, under the asgis of their sister-in-law, 
appeared not only Elizabeth and Amelia, but a less familiar 
figure in the social life of the Court — the Archduchess 
Josepha. 

The fifths surviving daughter of the Empress-Queen left 
no room for doubt that she was indeed a member of "an 
uncommonly well-looking family." She had also something 
of her mother's charm of manner, and the distinct person- 
ality of the girl who has begun to think for herself. Her 
mental development was partly due to the influence of her 
eldest brother. Born on his fete day, she too had been 
named for St. Joseph. And by assuming a special relation- 
ship to the Joseph who was twelve years her senior, she 
ended by establishing a firm hold on his affection. Her 
unaffianced sisters regarded the sixteen-year-old Princess 
with some degree of envy. In the course of the summer 
she was expected to become Queen of the Two Sicilies. 

The death of Archduchess Joanna, for whom the position 
had been originally destined, did not seem either to Maria 
Theresa or the King of Spain sufficient reason for renounc- 
ing their plan of a second matrimonial alliance between 
their families. Needless to say, this was also the view of 
Kaunitz, so the shadow of the Sicilian crown became asso- 
ciated with Josepha. Yet the mother's heart misgave her 
when she learned what manner of youth he was to whom 
her child would be united. There was certainly no glozing 
20 305 



306 MARIA THERESA 

over of facts in the special reports she received from various 
sources. The verdict of history on Ferdinand IV of Naples 
is little more than an amplification of the character -sketch 1 
by Maria Theresa when the Prince was only fourteen. It 
was written for the guidance of Countess Lerchenfeld, the 
Governess to whom was entrusted the training of Josepha 
for the endurance of life as "a political sacrifice." The 
Countess is told that her charge " will have a young husband 
who is growing up with no conception of discipline or of 
a higher authority than his own. He has never learned to 
apply himself, and evinces no sustained interest in anything 
except hunting and the stage. He is quite undeveloped, 
and can only speak the corrupt Italian of his capital, and 
even that uncouthly. He does not know what is meant by 
considering a question, and on various occasions has shown 
himself prome to harshness and obduracy. There is no one 
who either can or will take in hand to educate him. They 
say he is pale and delicate, like the Saxon side of his 
family. I wish he had the Saxon goodness of heart. I tell 
you this for your private ear. It will give defmiteness 
to your efforts to instil into my daughter the virtues and 
habits which will be essential to her if she is to find her 
happiness at the Court of Naples, or at least to escape per- 
dition. Above all things, seek to kindle in her a spirit of 
devotion. She has given little evidence of it so far. Im- 
press upon her that, in this world, prayer is the chief source 
of strength and consolation. She should not be ashamed of 
being seen at prayer. She is apt to be self-willed, which 
is undesirable. She is also extremely reserved. In modera- 
tion this can do no harm in Naples, but at the same time 
she must learn to be lively and conciliatory, and able to 
depend on herself for entertainment. In default of more 
pressing duty she should resort to reading, painting, and 
music. Idleness is the poison of life." 

With the results of the Countess' tutelage, as far as they 
could be ascertained in Austria, Maria Theresa declared 
herself satisfied. During the early months of 1767 her 
interest in domestic occurrences centred in Josepha's ap- 
proaching marriage, and the expected arrival at Pressburg 
of the third of her children's children. The second had 
recently appeared in Florence. "Another Theresa I" ex- 



THE FOURFOLD TRAGEDY 307 

claimed the unappreciative grandmother. " I wish it had 
been a Francis." 

On May 13th the Empress-Queen celebrated her fiftieth 
birthday. It was also the twenty-fifth birthday of her 
dearly loved second daughter. Within a week complications 
in childbirth had brought Marie to the borderland of life 
and death. Her infant could only be kept alive for one 
day; and though her own condition became less critical, 
recovery was likely to be slow. Her mother was still 
under the influence of the shock and suspense when she was 
told that her eldest son's wife was complaining of illness. 
The usual remedy of bleeding was, however, expected to 
check a feverishness so slight that it was ascribed to indi- 
gestion. The older Empress, who knew that the younger 
one was easily depressed, resolved to go and see her. 
Josepha's grief for her father-in-law had touched a re- 
sponsive chord in Maria Theresa's nature. Thenceforward 
she had striven loyally to show kindness and give promin- 
ence to the woman for whose unhappiness she was partly 
to blame. 

While she talked to Josepha the surgeon arrived. The 
Empress-Queen drew back the sleeve from the patient's 
arm, and perceived to her horror the first symptoms of the 
eruption of which every one stood in dread. She refused, 
however, to leave till the bleeding was over, and she had 
encouraged and even kissed h^r terrified daughter-in-law. 

There was a chance that Maria Theresa, with her ex- 
cellent constitution, might not prove susceptible to infec- 
tion ; but her possibility of escape became more remote 
when she was thrown into violent agitation by disquieting 
news of the invalid at Pressburg. Fever had supervened, 
and there was renewed anxiety. Before Marie was again 
pronounced out of danger, her mother was seeking relief 
from headache in repeated bleeding. It was too late then 
for preventive measures. Within a week of the fateful 
visit, the Empress -Queen was prostrated by smallpox in its 
most virulent form. 

In spite of her suffering she showed more concern than 
anyone else for the condition of her daughter-in-law. Symp- 
toms of internal inflammation made Josepha's case specially 
difficult of treatment. Exhausted by pain, she ceased to 



308 MARIA THERESA 

desire recovery, and asked for the last rites of the Church. 
On May 28th came the end of her brief, troubled career. 
Her husband ,wrote conventional intimations of " the loss 
of an estimable consort." Of his attitude in her illness 
nothing definite is known. It may be taken for granted 
that he was present when she received the last Sacraments, 
and that he did not omit such fugitive attention as was com- 
patible with the doubling of his public duties and the 
Sovereign's prior claim upon the time of the Regent. 

It was impossible to evade Maria Theresa's searching 
inquiries about Josepha. Grief for the pitiful outcome of 
the Bavarian alliance, and apprehension lest there should 
be any omission of the honour due to one who had been an 
Emperor's daughter and an Emperor's wife, resulted in an 
access of fever. On the day of the funeral the indications 
of an impending crisis gave rise to some disquietude. The 
Emperor delegated his duties and remained within sum- 
mons. There was no limit to his devotion where his mother 
was concerned. , In the intervals of his busy days he gave 
her the circumstantial reports she demanded, for she did 
not lose consciousness or interest in everything that was 
taking place. While health endured, Joseph's invincible 
desire to remould the existing order of things had filled her 
with uneasiness and distrust. In sickness he was her chief 
source of comfort. During the sleepless nights her mind 
became preternaturally active. She was not troubled about 
her own endangered life, but she realized what her absence 
would mean to those dependent on her, and the only person 
to whom she could impart her wishes, and from whom she 
could receive the needed reassurance, was the heir to her 
throne. When he left her for his brief snatches of rest 
he was never further away than an adjoining room, and 
always ready to resume the vigil. 

With anxiety daily becoming more acute, the citizens of 
Vienna noted the course of the malady. It was sadly 
familiar to them all, and they were filled with dismay 
when it became known that the Empress was about to 
receive the last Sacraments. Crowds followed in the pro- 
cession of the Host. Other crowds filled the churches for 
the simultaneous service of supplication. In the sick-room 
gathered the members of the household who were pro- 



THE FOURFOLD TRAGEDY 309 

tected by former experience of the pestilence. At the 
last moment came one who had not been expected — Prince 
Albert of Saxe-Teschen. At the express command of her 
mother his wife had been kept in ignorance of events in 
Vienna ; but when Marie's recovery seemed assured, the Prince 
determined to obtain at least one more glimpse of his friend 
and benefactress. The impulse was natural. To resist it 
might have seemed a duty in view of his consort's pre- 
carious state and his prior immunity from smallpox. 

To begin with, however, he could only feel gratification 
at having accomplished his object, for the day after the 
religious ceremonial brought an increase of unfavourable 
symptoms. Again the mournful citizens thronged the 
churches and, regardless of infection, crowded about the 
Hofburg. The words of a Court official might have been 
echoed by multitudes of Her Majesty's subjects: "We 
are not afraid of the Emperor as King, but we know what 
we would lose in her." 

But the eventful reign had not yet come to an end. When 
the crisis was past the strong constitution reasserted itself. 
Recovery might have been more rapid than was actually 
the case but for a relapse, caused by distress on hearing 
that Prince Albert was paying the penalty of his rash 
testimony of affection. Fortunately his attack of smallpox 
was of the milder type, and gave rise to no alarm, though 
it retarded the progress of his consort and his mother-in-law.. 

From all parts of her dominions came expressions of joy 
in the restoration of the monarch who had established a 
stronger claim than any of her predecessors to the whole- 
hearted allegiance of her subjects. In her own city of 
Vienna the element of personal knowledge and affection 
counted for much. Her progress to and from the Cathe- 
dral, on the occasion of the public thanksgiving, was 
attended by demonstrations of unbounded loyalty and jubila- 
tion. The general feeling was that which found expres- 
sion in a letter from the Emperor to Kaunitz: "There is 
only one Maria Theresa, and I am more enthusiastic about 
her than ever." 

At the present day one takes as a matter of course the 
reciprocal friendliness of sovereign and subjects. At the 
thanksgiving of 1767 it should rather be regarded as the 



310 MARIA THERESA 

measure of a woman's humanizing influence on monarchical 
institutions. Even in the time of Charles VI it was not the 
Emperor, but the Imperial position, that the people cared 
about. To his daughter it was given to inaugurate a 
more natural and modern relationship. Essentially modern 
was the advance in rank for the doctor, and the publication 
of a direct message of thanks and goodwill from the ruler 
to the people. 

When the recovery of the Empress- Queen had been duly 
celebrated, preparations for the marriage of Josepha were 
resumed. Her lavish trousseau, which had been ordered 
from France, caused a vast amount of talk and some natural 
grumbling amongst home manufacturers. With the Em- 
peror as companion, the bride-elect made the pilgrimage 
to Mariazell, invariably associated with Imperial marriages. 
To be torn away from home and country and exposed to 
the fierce criticism of a strange Court, was not an exhila- 
rating prospect. But the parting which the girl dreaded 
most of all was still in the distance. With this favourite 
sister Joseph was prepared to go all the way to Naples, 
and both looked forward (to the break of journey at Florence, 
where they were to be entertained by Leopold and his 
consort. 

On September 8th an Ambassador-Extraordinary from 
King Ferdinand made formal request for the hand of the 
Archduchess. The betrothal was followed by balls, concerts, 
and other state functions. For the first time since the 
death of her husband Maria Theresa was seen at public 
assemblies. She had not passed scathless through her 
terrible ordeal. All trace of her former beauty was gone. 
The short hair beneath her close-fitting widow's cap was 
thin and nearly white, and she had become painfully near- 
sighted. From the depths which had threatened to engulf 
her she had emerged, but only for a moment. Then the 
waves and billows broke over her afresh. 

All Vienna shared the grief and consternation of the 
Imperial household when, on October 4th, the young bride 
was suddenly seized with illness, which turned out to be 
smallpox of the malignant type always attended with risk. 
The Empress had the mournful satisfaction of being free 
to take a personal share in the nursing of her daughter. 



THE FOURFOLD TRAGEDY 311 

The Venetian Ambassador wrote that "though Her Majesty's 
sorrow was very great, it was equalled, if not surpassed, 
by that of the Emperor, who was inconsolable at the thought 
of danger to the dearest of his sisters." Again he watched 
"through anxious days and nights, a soothing presence in 
Josepha's intervals of consciousness. After a week's suffer- 
ing she divined her peril, and asked for the last rites., 
At nightfall on October 15th, still clinging to her brother, 
she passed away. 

There is no doubt as to how in this instance the disease 
was acquired. In a letter to her daughter Marie, dated 
October 4th, 1771, the Empress says: "It is four years 
to-day since Josepha went with me to the vault and caught 
smallpox." The vault in question was the burying-place 
of the Imperial Family, beneath the Capuchin Church, in 
Vienna. October 4th is St. Francis' Day, and, unfortu- 
nately, Maria Theresa was accompanied by her daughter 
when she made her customary pilgrimage to the tomb of 
her husband. She was probably unaware that there had 
been delay in providing the metal receptacle for the coffin 
of Empress Josepha; for it is unthinkable that she would 
wittingly have jeopardized a life so precious as that of the 
destined queen. The story that Josepha was reluctant to 
go to the vault, and that Maria Theresa exacted her attend- 
ance as a token of filial piety, is without substantiation. 
The girl herself referred to the incident during her illness, 
and told how she had prayed at the tomb of Joanna that 
God would make it manifest, if it were not His will that 
she, any more than her sister, should go to Naples. For 
her mother she had only words of affection. The rumour of 
an enforced visit to the vault may have been a distorted 
version of the fact that the Empress desired her daughter's 
journey to Italy to include a brief stay at Innsbruck for 
prayer in the chapel which perpetuated the memory of 
Emperor Francis. 

Not only in the palace, but in the city and the surround- 
ing region, smallpox raged during the summer and autumn 
of 1767- In the light of modern science the disinfection 
of sick-rooms and of those who had been in attendance 
therein was woefully inadequate. Hence it came about that 
when Archduchess Elizabeth attended the Requiem Mass 



312 MARIA THERESA 

for her sister, she was already in the grip of the hideous 
disease that, like another Minotaur, demanded its ceaseless 
tribute of human victims. That she was not devoured out- 
right was little consolation to the unfortunate girl, for she 
had been stripped of all her radiant loveliness. There is, 
indeed, no more pathetic illustration of the horror of small- 
pox in those pre-inoculation days than the story of Elizabeth : 
" as soon as she knew what her disease was, calling for a 
looking-glass and taking leave of those features she had so 
often heard praised, and which she believed would be greatly 
changed before she should see them again." 

The fourfold tragedy sent a shudder throughout Europe, 
and gave a powerful impulse to the only known means of 
evading the universal scourge. In the Austrian capital 
there was a general outcry against the medical treatment 
which had been so hopelessly found wanting. De Haen, 
nothing daunted, reiterated his theory about supplementing 
nature, but neither speech nor pamphlets could reinstate 
him as an authority on smallpox. Van Swieten's enemies 
were jubilant over the supposed discovery of a vulnerable 
point in his armour. But while recent events had made 
Maria Theresa suspect error in judgment, they had also 
given her touching proofs of the personal devotion of her 
physician, and she was determined to take no fresh step, 
save in conjunction with him. He was still unconvinced of 
the harmlessness of inoculation, but, unlike De Haen, he did 
not refuse to associate himself with a new departure. 

The country of Lady Mary Montagu was the only one in 
which inoculation had found general acceptance. When it 
was resolved to make trial of the system in Vienna, the in- 
quiry for a skilled operator was addressed to Sir William 
Pringle, the physician of George III. With Van Swieten as 
intermediary it was natural that Pringle should recommend 
John Ingenhouse, a Dutchman who had studied in Edin- 
burgh as well as Leyden, who was a member of the Royal 
Society of London, and an expert on the subject of inocu- 
lation. In Vienna he was received with all honour and 
accorded the status of a Court physician. Accounts differ 
as tp whether his first patients were members of the Imperial 
Family or children of poor citizens on whom the Empress 
desired him to experiment. What is certain is that before 



THE FOURFOLD TRAGEDY 313 

the end of 1768 Ingenhouse inoculated the Archdukes 
Ferdinand and Maximilian, and the Emperor's little 
daughter. When they all recovered without disfigurement 
from their slight attacks of smallpox, Maria Theresa became 
an enthusiastic advocate of the new treatment. To give the 
doctors of the capital full opportunity of familiarizing them- 
selves with the practice of inoculation, she invited parents 
in poor circumstances to bring their children to Hetzendorf, 
an Imperial residence not far from Schonbrunn. There they 
received, without charge, the same advantage as the young 
princes. Sixty-five youngsters were thus collected, and 
again the operation was successful. The recovery was cele- 
brated by a festival at Schonbrunn, to which both the 
children and their parents were invited. The Empress 
presided, and her sons and daughters helped to wait upon 
the guests. Thus confidence in the new treatment was 
assured. Hetzendorf remained at the service of the doctors 
and of successive companies of patients, who were seldom too 
ill to enjoy themselves. " In Austria," remarks a traveller, 
" people take smallpox just as in other countries they take 
the waters ! ' ' 

Thus amongst those who could afford to purchase im- 
munity the plague was stayed. But the memories of 1763 
and 1767 were mingled with bitter regret that the remedy 
had not been tried sooner. The Te Deum for her recovery 
could have had little meaning for Elizabeth. " I could not 
join in it without tears," says her mother, " and without 
seeming to hear as an undertone the chanting of the De 
Profundis." 

Joseph's feeling finds utterance in his reply to a com- 
munication of Louis XV, expressing concern on hearing that 
his great-granddaughter had been inoculated. The Em- 
peror's defence of the preventive measure ends in sorrow 
that it had not been introduced before. " I might not now 
be lamenting the wife who was the joy of my existence." 
As a convincing proof that no harm had come of the ex- 
periment, a little letter was enclosed from the six-year-old 
Theresa to His Majesty of France: "Knowing that you 
love me, dear grandpapa, I assure you that I am astonish- 
ingly well. ' I had only fifty pocks, which give me great 
pleasure." 



C HAPTER XXXI 

THE FIRST PARTITION OF POLAND 

BETWEEN the day when Maria Theresa turned back 
from the gates of Death and the day when they 
closed behind her, lie thirteen years of toil for her 
country, and vigilant oversight of her children. In the 
sphere of foreign politics they include such outstanding 
events as the first Partition of Poland, the suppression of 
the Jesuit Order, and the outbreak of a war of the Bavarian 
Succession. Within the monarchy the system of reform 
begun at an earlier period was notably developed and ex- 
tended. Yet in a personal life of the Empress-Queen there 
is no need to dwell at length on the historical aspect of 
the last stage of her career. The sovereignty that was 
peculiarly her own, ends with the death of her husband. 
Thenceforward we are faced with the curious spectacle of 
the beginning of one reign overlapping the close of another. 
Not that any hard-and-fast line can be drawn between them. 
The heated disputes of the co-Regents are not so much 
the outcome of essential difference of policy as of the same 
policy viewed from the standpoint of rulers of different 
generations and very different temperaments. 

Seldom, therefore, can it be said of any particular 
measure, " This is the work of Maria Theresa, or this of 
Joseph." But it may be safely asserted that if the Empress 
had been solely responsible for the foreign policy of her 
later years, Austria would have had neither part nor lot in 
the dismemberment of Poland. Her sins against the un- 
happy country were sins of omission. It has already been 
shown how opportunities of averting, or at least of staving 
off, the tragedy of 1772 were lost from lack of prescience, 
lack of enterprise, and morbid apprehension of treachery on 
the part of Frederick the Great. 

314 



THE FIRST PARTITION OF POLAND 315 

Austria still held aloof when France, realizing the sig- 
nificance of the Polish crisis, sent money and officers to 
the assistance of the national party, and stirred up the 
enemies of Catherine II. But the result of embroiling 
Russia and Turkey proved disastrous to the latter country. 
The Czarina was presently in a fair way to obtain the 
footing which she coveted for Russia on the shores of the 
Black Sea. Joseph, perceiving Turkey's approaching need 
of a mediator, began to scheme for the office with an eye 
to territorial acquisitions for Austria in return for his ser- 
vices. Kaunitz and Lacy directed their energies to the 
same end. Maria Theresa protested vehemently but un- 
successfully against any attempt to make capital out of the 
extremity of the Turks. Had they not laid her under an 
eternal obligation by refraining from taking advantage of 
her weakness at the time of her accession? 

At this juncture Frederick was seized with panic lest 
Austria and Russia should unite, and then turn against an 
isolated Prussia. He therefore contrived a meeting with 
Joseph, at Neisse, in Silesia, and disquieted his guest by hint- 
ing at the likelihood of a Russian advance to the Danube. 
"He then warned Catherine that Austria would in all prob- 
ability resist any further attack on Turkey, and that, exhausted 
as his country was, he could not give her any material help. 
Finally he proposed that the three Powers should come 
to terms over the Turkish question, and take their compensa- 
tion in Poland. 

" Catherine would have preferred to continue the Turkish 
War while she gradually paved the way for the complete 
absorption of Poland. But she was not prepared to face 
both Austria and Turkey without assistance. After some 
hesitation she complied with Frederick's suggestion." 1 

To bring Austria into line was a matter of infinitely 
greater difficulty. Unlike Joseph, Maria Theresa had never 
coveted the provinces of Poland or of the Porte. She 
marvelled that her son and her Chancellor did not ,share 
her loathing of a transaction which would degrade her in 
her own eyes, and make her the accomplice of Frederick 
in a political crime on all fours with the seizure of Silesia. 

1 The Age of the Enlightened Despot, p. 211. 



3 i6 MARIA THERESA 

In earlier days she might have wrenched herself free from 
the net in which she had become entangled. But she could 
not repudiate the authority of her co-Regent, who, in order 
to alarm Russia, had assembled a considerable force near 
the Turkish frontier. Nor was she impervious to the argu- 
ments of the Minister in whom she placed such absolute 
confidence. Sorrow, she thought, had appeared to her in 
every conceivable shape and form. But never before had 
she known the exceeding bitterness of finding herself so 
situated that she could not go forward without juggling 
with her conscience, or backward without alienating the 
heir to her throne. There is a world of regret and per- 
plexity in her message to Kaunitz on January 22nd, 1772. 1 
" After all the false steps we have taken, which I felt 
at the time to be false, we can never get right back to the 
old way. . . . The sending to Hungary of troops from 
Italy and the Netherlands, the Convention with Turkey, the 
far too menacing tone we adopted with the Russians, the 
secretive attitude we have maintained towards friends and 
foes alike — all this is the result of our determination to ex- 
tort profit from the contest between the Porte and Russia, 
and to extend our frontiers and secure advantages of which 
we never dreamed before the war. In fine, we set ourselves 
to play the Prussian, and at the same time preserve the 
appearance of honesty. . . . From the outset of my un- 
fortunate reign we have at least striven to follow truth 
and justice, to keep troth, to give proof of moderation 
and of fidelity in the fulfilment of our engagements. Thus 
we had won the confidence and, I venture to say, the ad- 
miration of all Europe. We were respected and honoured 
by our very enemies. All this we have lost within a single 
year. Nothing on earth could have been so grievous to me 
as the forfeiture of our good name. Unfortunately I must 
admit, and to you, that we deserve it. It is for this that 
I am in search of a remedy. Let us abandon as evil and 
pernicious the idea of fishing for advantage in the existing 
political whirlpool. Let us consider by what means we can 
extricate ourselves from our deplorable situation without 

1 This message was first published in the correspondence between Maria 
Theresa and Joseph. At a later date Von Arneth quotes it as a letter to 
Kaunitz. Geschichte Maria Theresia's, Vol. VIII, p. 353. 



THE FIRST PARTITION OF POLAND 317 

thinking of territorial gain, but of the re-establishment of 
our reputation, our credit, our claim to straightforwardness, 
and, as far as possible, of the political balance of power." 

In her use of the plural pronoun, and her expressions 
of poignant regret, the Empress blames herself unduly for 
a course, every step of which had been vigorously opposed 
by her. Her appeal was peculiarly embarrassing to Kau- 
nitz, whose power as Minister of Foreign Affairs she had 
curtailed when she made him the servant of two masters. 
He had to convince her that, at the stage at which the 
proceedings hi. ! arrived, his intervention would do more 
harm than good. Catherine had decided to appropriate 
all Poland on the east of the Dwina and the Dnieper. 
Frederick was bent on rounding off his dominions by an- 
nexing the provinces which had hitherto separated his Elec- 
torate of Brandenburg and his Duchy of East Prussia. 
Maria Theresa was invited to join in the partition, but it 
was announced that it would take effect whatever the answer 
from Vienna might be. Kaunitz declared that there was 
nothing to be done but to indicate the districts of Poland 
which might with advantage be transferred to Austria. 

Maria Theresa admitted that the easiest way to end 
the war and bring about a political settlement would be 
to fall in with the proposed disintegration. But, she con- 
tinues, " with what right can we rob an innocent nation 
that it has hitherto been our boast to protect and support? 
... I do not comprehend the policy whereby for the mere 
sake of present convenience and possible benefit in the 
future, it is made incumbent on a third ruler to imitate the 
iniquity of two others who are destroying an unoffending 
Power. This seems to me a most untenable proposition. 
There Is not one kind of justice for a prince and another 
for a private individual. The greatness and the strength of 
a State will not be taken into consideration when we all 
appear to render our final account." 

But the " third Power," as represented by Joseph and 
Kaunitz, was not a whit behind the other two in territorial 
acquisitiveness. In spite of a reluctant Maria Theresa still 
holding back, Austria's share in the spoil was duly agreed 
upon. It became known as the Province of Galicia, though 
it comprised portions of other districts and the city of 



318 MARIA THERESA 

Cracow. Kaun'itz, as usual, stretched demand to its utmost 
limit, and prepared for concessions. But the vultures hover- 
ing over Poland were too eager to devour their own share 
of the prey to haggle indefinitely about the portion on 
which the Austrians might settle. Frederick's gibe about 
" the excellence of their appetite " was not, however, calcu- 
lated to lessen Maria Theresa's sense of political degrada- 
tion. 

Throughout the negotiations the Chancellor's chief diffi- 
culty was with the Empress, whose grief broke out afresh 
every time her assent was required to provisions of the 
treaty. Adrift from the familiar moorings she became 
bewildered, discouraged, and utterly dependent on her 
Minister. " Tell me your opinion," she writes to him, 
" and I will act upon it, for my son and I see things in 
a very different light. . . . When you are not present I 
can come to no definite conclusion." In August, 1772, the 
Treaty of St. Petersburg, in its final form, reached Vienna. 
It had already been signed by the Czarina and the King of 
Prussia. The Emperor and Empress received it with a 
memorial from Kaunitz, showing that it conceded all the 
demands on which Austria had laid stress. " I am in- 
debted to you for this good news," said Joseph in reply. 
But Maria Theresa wrote only two words — Habe unter- 
schrieben, " I have signed." 

A month later she confides to her son Ferdinand that 
this wretched Partition of Poland had robbed her of at least 
ten years of life. " You will be duly informed of the 
dreary course of the affair. Plow often did I strive to 
dissociate myself from an action which sullies the whole of 
my reign. God grant that I may not be held responsible 
for it in another world: I am haunted by it now. It weighs 
on my heart and tortures my brain and embitters my days — 
days sad enough without that. "I must pull myself up 
sharply, or the worry of it all will land me in melan- 
cholia." 



CHAPTER XXXII 



THE YOUNGER DAUGHTERS OF MARIA THERESA 

THE changes which the years had wrought in the 
Imperial household are indicated by the fact that, in 
1772, the Empress could only communicate with 
Ferdinand by letter. One by one the younger members 
of her family had been, as it were, pulled up by the roots 
and planted afresh in alien soil. Ferdinand, the last to go, 
was also the happiest in his destination. In Beatrix of 
Modena he found a companionable wife; and Milan was 
not suffered to make exacting demands on its boyish 
governor. Recollections of Leopold's illness on his wed- 
ding-day, may account for Maria Theresa's anxiety to hear 
that everything had gone well at the ceremony in Milan 
Cathedral. But Ferdinand would have been without excuse, 
if he had failed to play his part perfectly. In marriages by 
proxy, he had already personated the husbands of three of 
his sisters. 

In the fate of these luckless beings the finger of Kau- 
nitz is clearly to be discerned. The Bourbon Alliance was 
the idol which he fell down and worshipped. But he must 
have had grave doubts of its stability, when he required 
no fewer than three princesses to sacrifice their lives for the 
purpose of keeping it upright. 

From the doom which had threatened her sisters, Joanna 
and Josepha, there was no way of escape for Archduchess 
Caroline. In 1668, at the age of fifteen, she was mar- 
ried to Ferdinand of the Two Sicilies. From the shelter- 
ing wing of her mother and the companionship of the chief 
object of her affection, her sister Antoinette, she was torn 
away and thrust into what seemed to her in the first months 
"a very hell upon earth." Fortunately she was a girl of 
spirit and resource. Though hampered by deficient educa- 

3»9 



320 MARIA THERESA 

tion, she contrived to make herself a power in the life of 
her husband and of the Court of Naples. Her support of 
Austrian policy was not in the long run an advantage to 
her adopted country, but it gained her the hearty approval 
of her mother. " Caroline is more like me than any of my 
other daughters," said Maria Theresa at the time of the 
Austro-Sicilian marriage. And seven years later, she writes 
to Marie: "You know how fond I am of your sister 
Caroline. I must do her the justice to say that, next to 
you, she has always shown the most genuine attachment 
to me and the greatest readiness to follow my advice." 

Caroline's little part in history does not, however, belong 
to the lifetime of her mother, but to the revolutionary period 
when she was the " dear Queen " of Nelson's Lady Hamil- 
ton. As an ancestress she is also interesting, though it 
was certainly no honour to be the grmdmother of the 
notorious " Bomba." 

The next Bourbon marriage — that of Archduchess Amelia 
to Ferdinand, Duke of Parma — was a political blunder and 
a starting-point of tragi-comic incidents which made Parma 
a byword in the Courts of Europe. 

Amelia was, from all accounts, much better-looking than 
Caroline. Her mother was particularly severe on her want 
of application, but failed to amend the educative system 
which made such scanty provision for mental discipline. 
It is noteworthy that, in Amelia's case, an unusual amount 
of praise is mingled with the fault-finding. " You are 
extraordinarily patient," she was told, " ready to do a good 
turn to others, and, when you choose, you can be so abso- 
lutely winning that it is difficult to resist you." 

A visitor, who was made much of at the Austrian Court 
in the last weeks of 1767, Duke Charles of Zweibriicken, 1 
speedily capitulated to the charm of Amelia. She con- 
tinued to show him the sunny side of her nature, for, though 
his patrimony hardly warranted aspiration to her hand, he 
was the presumptive successor of two heirless potentates, 
the Electors of Bavaria and of the Palatinate. 

Early in the following year, the envoy of the Elector 
Palatine sought the consent of the Emperor and Empress 

1 Or Deux-ponts. 



ARCHDUCHESS AMELIA 321 

to a marriage between the Duke and the Archduchess. The 
prospects of the young suitor, combined with the flavour of 
romance, might have gained him the support of the Em- 
press, if Kaunitz had not scoffed at the bare idea of such 
an alliance. It was, he declared, a proposal to substitute 
a speculative benefit to the State for the certainty of a 
new link between Habsburg and Bourbon at Parma. The 
Chancellor had his way. To him it seemed a mere matter 
of sending a negative answer to one Court and an accept- 
ance to another. But he reckoned without Amelia, and 
without the lasting resentment of Charles of Zweibriicken. 

The Archduchess evidently realized that it was useless 
to protest, much as she disliked the thought of being mar- 
ried to a youth of eighteen instead of to a man of her 
own age, which was three-and-twenty. She was yet more 
dismayed when, in the summer of 1769, she arrived in 
Parma, to find that her husband had been vastly overrated 
by description. To her he seemed almost a child, and a 
foolish one to boot, who found pleasure in munching chest- 
nuts of his own roasting, ringing church bells, and jesting 
with peasants on the highway. The Empress-Queen was 
likewise taken aback by the reports of returning wedding 
guests. She felt that she had been too ready to credit any 
laudatory statement about the son of Don Philip and the 
brother of the peerless Isabella. Though no lover of un- 
conventionality, she was positively relieved to hear that 
her daughter, far from brooding over her disappointment, 
had taken to rise early in order to explore her new country 
on foot or on horseback. " The sacrament of marriage 
-has aroused our sleepy princess," was Her Majesty's pious 
comment. 

The vision of a regenerate Amelia was dispelled by the 
arrival of the next courier. Transformed she seemed indeed 
to be, but into a very spirit of unrest and mischief. Thence- 
forward there was no sympathy for the political victim, 
with her ill-regulated mind and pathetic craving for dis- 
traction. It was bad enough that her mistaken generosity 
should fill the palace with beggars; that an admonition to 
" get to know men " should be taken with dangerous literal - 
ness; but an attempt to make herself absolute ruler of 
Parma, was an unlooked-for and alarming development. 
21 



322 MARIA THERESA 

Hitherto the little principality had not suffered from the 
youth and ineptitude of its sovereign. Du Tillot, the chief 
Minister of the late Duke, had kept a firm hold on the 
reins of government. At the instigation of his opponents 
Amelia determined to wrench them out of his hands. Thus 
she became embroiled with his supporters, and in the general 
confusion the chariot of State was likely to be overturned. 

The horrified Empress penned stern remonstrances and 
sent one envoy after another to Parma. The Duke was 
taken to task by his uncle, the King of Spain, and his; 
grandfather, the King of France. Amelia professed con- 
trition and promised amendment, but her impulse to tamper 
with the machinery of government was apparently irrestible. 
There was talk of sending her back to Austria. " Not by 
herself," was her mother's emphatic announcement. " Either 
she comes with her husband or she stays in Parma." In 
Parma she remained, and the birth of a son strengthened her 
tie to the duchy, and did something to restore her prestige. 
To avoid suspicion of complicity, Maria Theresa had found 
it needful to break off all communication with the turbulent 
Duchess. When the latter pledged herself to greater docility, 
letters were again interchanged. But there remained a 
painful feeling of estrangement between the Empress and 
the black sheep of the Habsburg flock. 

For a moment it seemed as if the political martyr at 
Naples might likewise commit the unpardonable sin of taking 
an overt interest in politics. And though at the bidding 
of her mother and father-in-law, Caroline renounced her 
anti- ministerial attitude, it was not until she had caused a 
certain amount of flutter in diplomatic circles. Maria 
Theresa was not only scandalized, she was seriously alarmed 
lest the King of France should withdraw his consent to a 
marriage between the Dauphin and her youngest daughter. 
It had been well for Marie Antoinette if this had verily been 
the result of her sisters' hankering after power. As it 
was, their injudicious meddling contributed not a little to 
make the Archduchess an object of suspicion from the 
day she first set foot in France, in May, 1770. 

Her marriage with the grandson of Louis XV had long 
been contemplated. It was indeed regarded as the cope- 
stone of the system of foreign policy built up by Kaunitz. 



MARIE ANTOINETTE 323 

Even in childhood Antoinette was shown off to French 
travellers of distinction. In 1766, Madame Geoffrin, whose 
salon was the meeting-point of all that was best in Parisian 
society, set out to visit Stanislaus Poniatowski. During his 
residence in France, she had come to take a maternal interest 
in the Polish noble. And when, as King, he invited her 
to Warsaw, she forgot her seventy years and set off blithely. 
At Schonbrunn the old saloniere was received with much 
cordiality. She did not need significant hints to induce her 
to make friends with a little princess, who was looking 
forward to her eleventh birthday. Madame declared her 
to be "lovely as an angel." The Empress was frankly 
pleased, and expressed the hope that her visitor would 
write to France that she had seen the youngest Archduchess 
and found her beautiful. 

The childish prettiness was not wholly outgrown when, 
in her fifteenth year, Marie Antoinette came as a bride to 
Versailles. Madame Du Barry's curt dismissal of her as 
" a little red-haired thing," was obviously dictated by spite. 
For even before the passing of the awkward age, portraits 
of the girlish Dauphine distinctly foreshadow the " delight- 
ful vision " of after days. 

Maria Theresa has been roundly condemned for exposing 
an innocent, impressionable child to the polluted atmosphere 
of the Court of Louis XV. But it must be remembered 
that a reigning sovereign is not on the same plane as the 
ordinary ambitious mother " with her little hoard of 
maxims." The monarch who had made it a rule to remind 
herself each day that she was not her own, that she belonged 
to the State, could not but feel that a similar conception 
of life was demanded of her children. The marriage tie 
to the French Bourbons had long been deemed essential to 
Austria. It had been sought in Joseph's marriage to Isa- 
bella. The tragedy of its attainment could not be foreseen. 

Besides, the Empress had no intention of leaving the 
girl to her own devices. The continuance of her educa- 
tion would, it was hoped, divert her mind from the more 
noxious aspects of her surroundings. And an experienced 
counsellor was to be always at hand not only to keep the 
young Princess from entangling herself in the network of 
intrigue that surrounded the French throne, but to have 



324 MARIA THERESA 

the oversight of her whole existence. In short, to be to her 
what Count Silva-Tarouca had been to her mother. 

The man on whom this difficult and even dangerous post 
was conferred was Count Florimond de Mercy-Argenteau, 
since 1766 Austrian Ambassador to the Court of Versailles. 
Prior to that date he had been Ambassador to Russia and 
Poland, though perhaps most prominent as the representative 
of Maria Theresa at Parma, during the negotiations for 
Joseph's first marriage. The office with which he was now 
entrusted, was one which could not have been held for a 
day had its actuality been suspected. That for the space 
of ten years, Count Mercy discharged its duties to the entire 
satisfaction of the Empress; that he wrote almost daily 
reports of the life of her daughter, and dispatched them at 
regular intervals, often enclosing private letters from the 
Dauphine herself, and that all this took place without dis- 
covery under the very noses of an army of spies, is one of 
the most amazing achievements of eighteenth -century diplo- 
macy. 

For all her loyalty to the system which kept her in close 
touch with her mother, Marie Antoinette had her fits of 
rebellion against the dictates of her guardian. Even when, 
in 1774, she became Queen of France, she was still liable 
to a double dose of remonstrance for her shortcomings, since 
disregard of Mercy's injunctions entailed admonishment 
from the Empress a week or two later. Still the, guardian- 
ship kept her out of many a pitfall, and went far to ensure 
her popularity during the early years of her husband's reign. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE DIMINISHED FAMILY— THE DEATH OF MARIA 
THERESA'S FIRST GRANDCHILD AND OF HER 
OLDER FRIENDS 



N 



T EITHER the thought of performing a duty to the 
State nor any other reflection, could lessen Maria 
Theresa's grief in bidding farewell to her children. 
After long absence her married sons came back to visit 
her; but her three youngest daughters returned to her no 
more. Convention, considerations of expense, doubt as to 
what might happen if the presence of the sovereign were 
withdrawn, all combined to restrict the movements of 
eighteenth-century rulers. Their consorts went to them 
with a sense of finality. 

Therefore we find the Empress- Queen striving to project 
herself into the future of her departing boys and girls, and, 
not content with lavishing upon them words of counsel and 
warning, she bestows upon each, as a last token of affec- 
tion, voluminous written instructions — scrolls which the 
young pilgrims are to study for their guidance. 

Her thoughts go onward with them when the distance 
hides them from her sight. Her tears fall over their first 
homesick letters. She misses the familiar faces, the familiar 
voices and footsteps. When the departure of Marie An- 
toinette was followed by the departure of Ferdinand, the 
Empress was only fifty- four, but she began to feel strangely 
old. 

Her daughters Marianne and Elizabeth still remained to 
bear her company. The Abbess of Prague had developed 
into "a pleasing woman of the world." She was writing 
a description of the medals, nearly three hundred in number, 
which had been struck to commemorate the leading events 
of her mother's life and reign. To her mother she dedi- 
cated the finished volume, a work of value to the historian. 

325 



326 MARIA THERESA 

It was particularly hard for Elizabeth, with her enjoyment 
of social stir and public festivity, to have missed predomi- 
nance in a Court of her own. Her loss of beauty would 
not necessarily have prevented marriage with her Sardinian 
cousin, the Duke de Chablais; but her mother's resources 
were drained by excessive generosity to Marie and Prince 
Albert, both before and after their marriage. And Joseph 
steadily refused to help in the establishment of another 
"dear brother-in-law." For Elizabeth, the Empress now 
designed the position which, in the first years of her widow- 
hood, she had dreamed of for herself — that, namely, of 
Abbess of the Damenstift, at Innsbruck. 

In addition to the two princesses, the Imperial household 
still included Maria Theresa's eldest and youngest sons. 
Maximilian, with his fifteenth birthday at hand, was making 
fitful response to much tutoring. No destiny had as yet 
been carved out for him. When an ecclesiastical career 
was suggested, his mother declared herself utterly opposed 
to the practice of conferring clerical appointments on mere 
boys. If Maximilian decided for the Church, well and good; 
but she preferred to think of him as a future military com- 
mander. 

The Empress freely admitted that she suffered from the 
physical and mental strain of conflict with her fellow-Regent. 
But she would have repudiated with all the vigour of which 
she was capable the notion that her life was made wretched 
by unfilial conduct. Their differences of opinion were legion, 
but Joseph and his mother rarely misunderstood one another. 
It is not surprising that the latter sometimes yielded to her 
son when her own would have been the more excellent way, 
since she could say, " I love him so dearly that in the act 
of opposing him I feel that I want him to be right. An 
hour or two afterwards I am miserable to think I have 
vexed him." 

She became increasingly reluctant to maintain an un- 
flinching attitude as she perceived that when Joseph's views 
were met with uncompromising indignation, he was apt to 
contrive a journey that took him away from Vienna till the 
storm blew over. A wiser course could scarcely have been 
devised, but wandering did not find favour with Maria 
Theresa. She granted the necessity of the Emperor's pres- 



THE DIMINISHED FAMILY 327 

ence at military manoeuvres and of inspection on his part 
of fortresses and frontier stations, but she could not compre- 
hend his love of travel for its own sake, nor the dislike of 
the born traveller for any deviation on his own account from 
the established custom of the place of his sojourn. Her 
own rule had put an end to the stilted sovereignty of her 
predecessors, and the pendulum came full swing when 
Joseph, garbed as an ordinary traveller, made shift with the 
accommodation of the inns on his route, and fraternized with 
people of every grade in society. It was the only means of 
obtaining what he wanted, first-hand knowledge of the con- 
ditions of life in his own and other countries. 

Change of scene and society became his sole relief from 
the routine of business when the death of his little girl 
left him in unredeemed loneliness. In January, 1770, the 
Empress writes to Beatrix d'Este: "I did not think to 
begin the new year by telling you of the loss of my dear 
granddaughter. It is all the greater inasmuch as she was 
an only child, full of promise and charm, the darling of 
her father, and his one source of relaxation. He is feeling 
his loss so keenly that I fear for his own health. I myself 
am so overcome that I can only write these few lines." 

Joseph's fatherhood had been as unconventional as his 
travelling. His Theresa regarded him as a boon com- 
panion, to be played with when he was at home, to exchange 
letters with if he were away. She was his visible link to 
the wife he never ceased to mourn. In 1769 he was in Italy 
on the anniversary of his mother's birthday, but he arranged 
that his message to her should be presented by the seven- 
year-old daughter whom he calls his "other self." Theresa's 
upbringing bade fair to be a further bone of contention 
between her father and grandmother. The former had 
determined that she should have something more than the 
meagre intellectual equipment of his sisters. The Mar- 
quise d'Herzelle, a woman of culture and refinement, was 
invited from Brussels and installed as Theresa's Governess. 
The Emperor was willing that she should think out her 
own plan of education, but Maria Theresa could not refrain 
from issuing instructions on the old lines. 

Differences on this score were cut short by the illness of 
the little Archduchess. A cold, probably acquired in her 



328 MARIA THERESA 

grandmother's chilly apartments, developed into inflamma- 
tion of the lungs. From the sick-room the Emperor was 
rarely absent. The child clung to her father and refused 
food or medicine from any one else. If his care could 
have availed, the precious life would have been saved. 
His own seemed scarcely worth having without his "other 
self." Writing to her Governess he says: "To be no longer 
father seems more than I can bear. ... I shall miss my 
daughter all the remaining days of my life." The things 
of value which had been presented to her were, with few 
exceptions, to be either retained by Madame d'Herzelle, 
or distributed amongst those who had been in attendance on 
the child. But he continues: " One thing I beg of you, 
let me have the little white woollen dress with the em- 
broidery of flowers, that she has been wearing indoors, and 
likewise some of her attempts at writing, which I will keep 
with her mother's writings." 

Had Theresa lived a few weeks longer she would have 
completed her eighth year, and also helped to celebrate 
her father's twenty-ninth birthday. The Empress was re- 
luctant to abandon hope that he might eventually be induced 
to contract a third marriage. But her hints as to the de- 
sirability of such a step merely elicited a reminder that in 
Leopold's boys the succession was assured. 

With a thrill of exultation Maria Theresa heard of the 
arrival of her first grandson on February 12th, 1768. She 
was alone when the important intimation reached her; but 
her sons and daughters were in the adjoining playhouse, and 
the news was too good to keep. Hastening along the 
corridor, in attire more suggestive of comfort than state, 
she entered the theatre for the first time since her husband's 
death. The unlooked-for sight of the Empress, in eager 
conversation with the occupants of the Imperial box, drew 
all eyes from the stage, and the performance came to a 
standstill. Thereupon Her Majesty leant forward, and in the 
Viennese colloquial, which came more readily to her than 
any other form of speech, she made known to the audience 
that Leopold had got a boy, and on her wedding-day,, 
too. Was jt not gallant of him?. It was the same impulsive 
Maria Theresa who had interrupted the Corpus Christi 
procession half a century before. Little did she think 




JOSEPH II AND LEOPOLD OF TUSCANY 



THE DIMINISHED FAMILY 329 

that she had announced the birth of the last successor to 
the Empire of Charlemagne. 

We have seen how, after her return from Innsbruck, 
she was constrained by circumstances to resume her duties 
as Sovereign, but she did not contemplate more than an 
occasional appearance amongst her subjects. When, how- 
ever, the death of her Bavarian daughter-in-law left the 
Court without social leadership, anything of the nature of 
strict retirement for the Empress- Queen was out of the 
question. No longer, as in bygone days, did she live in 
the eye of the public; but she was never inaccessible, and 
her Sunday receptions were a distinctive feature of the life 
of the Court. 

Those who have recorded impressions of her in her later 
years always refer to the disfiguring traces of the illness 
which had also affected her eyesight and her general health. 
" In the drawing-room she used a glass to distinguish 
persons at a few paces distant from her." She had grown 
"large and heavy." "Her face was lacerated by the marks 
of the smallpox and the effects of a fall from her carriage. 
Nevertheless, it retains such an expression of goodness and 
benevolence that, when she smiles, her features for an instant 
almost become pleasing." 

No one could forget that her life was spent in the shadow 
of a great bereavement. " Everything about her person was 
dark and mournful." The sombreness of her weeds was 
never modified. The apartments of her widowhood, on the 
third story of the Hofburg, were hung with black velvet or 
grey silk. Fortunately they had a southern exposure, and 
on fine days the sunshine, streaming through the open win- 
dows, made the interior less depressing. In winter the very 
aspect of the rooms caused a shiver. Seldom would their 
occupant consent to the lighting of a fire. 

It was a, trying state of things for her attendants and those 
who were received in audience. " The Emperor says he is 
almost frozen when he goes to see his mother. He is 
obliged to put on a fur coat in order to support the air of 
her apartment." Kaunitz alone had the temerity to close 
the windows when he came for an interview; but the 
Chancellor had to be taken on his own terms or not at all. 

After 1772 he was the last prominent survivor of the 



33Q MARIA THERESA 

group of remarkable men who had been associated with 
Maria Theresa in the building up of a monarchy infinitely 
more compact, stable, and progressive than the one she had 
inherited. Her steadfast trust in their ability and their 
integrity had spurred them on to great achievement. Her 
gratitude and friendship had been their reward. When their 
places were left vacant, she felt that they were still the 
company to which she belonged, and which she must shortly 
rejoin. 

Meanwhile their passing had left her with a keen sense 
of loneliness. Others might be appointed to their posts, but 
she realized that the new generation had produced no such 
men as Bartenstein, 1 Haugwitz, Liechtenstein, Tarouca, and 
Van Swieten. 

No outstanding service to the State was rendered by 
Count Silva-Tarouca. He had had his opportunities of ad- 
vancement to high office, and had let them go. While 
Maria Theresa insisted on his attendance at Court in an 
undefined capacity, it was manifestly impossible for him 
to gratify ambition without giving rise to scandalous im- 
putations. Often he had craved release from a task " odious 
and repressive." But there was certainly no one else who 
could have discharged it, and very few who would have 
consented to the sacrifices it entailed. So complete was 
Tarouca's self-effacement that it is only in recent studies 
of the period that his name occurs at all. Yet unquestion- 
ably he regulated the motion of the driving-wheel of the 
whole machinery of government. 

In 1759, at the age of sixty-three, he resigned his last 
public office, that of President of the Council of Italian 
affairs. Thenceforward he lived in retirement, cheered by 
the constant and quite informal friendship of the Sovereign 
who still described herself as his pupil. When he was too 
feeble to come to Court, she went to see him. Her glad 
and sorrowful anniversaries never failed to bring a message 
from her " little scolding preceptor," or her " old and 
decrepit fault-finder." When he apologizes for the shaki- 
ness of his handwriting, she replies: "I was extremely 
pleased to see once more the writing of one to whom I 

1 Bartenstein died in 1767. 



THE DIMINISHED FAMILY 331 

probably owe any signs of prudence and moderation in my 
young years, and who is still my intimate friend, my Minister 
extraordinary." 

There is a delightful undated note from the Empress 
to Tarouca on one of his anniversaries. " I have not for- 
gotten," she says, " that your little jewel of a Theresas- 
has come to celebrate your birthday. Great, fat Theresa 
unites with her in whole-hearted congratulations. She also 
wishes very sincerely all the good that you can desire, and 
— gifts which she cannot bestow, but which are now to be 
recognized as desirable for you — rest and philosophic tran- 
quillity. These you will doubtless obtain more easily than 
your far too impatient pupil." 

The most striking testimony to her appreciation of the 
service of Tarouca is her desire that a trustworthy counsellor 
should hold a similar position in the lives of her absent 
daughters. Only in the case of Marie Antoinette did the 
plan actually take shape. But the Empress was quite as 
anxious to appoint a guide to the Queen of Naples. In 
that case the Ambassador does not seem to have been 
adaptable for the purpose, and the King of Spain, fearing 
complications, negatived the proposal of a special adviser 
for his daughter-in-law. 

1 Tarouca's daughter, a namesake and goddaughter of the Empress. 

/ 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

THE DEATH OF VAN SWIETEN— DISSOLUTION OF 
THE COMPANY OF JESUS— THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 
SYSTEM — ABOLITION OF LEGAL TORTURE — 
VARIATIONS OF KAUNITZ 

TO Van Swieten the eventide of life brought no 
respite from toil. Till the beginning of his last 
illness, he was in daily personal or written com- 
munication with the Sovereign, who shared so many of his 
ideals and ambitions. His going hence left her, as she 
herself says, with a great void in her existence, and utterly 
inconsolable. 

Maria Theresa had known from the outset that he was 
a man by himself, who could have no real successor. Hence 
her anxiety if he happened to be at all out of health.. 
Fortunately he had, like herself, been started in life with 
a robust constitution. Born with the century, he does not 
appear to have had any serious ailment till 1771, when 
he was for some days in a critical state. The Empress 
kept herself constantly informed of his condition. When 
recovery was assured, she wrote to him expressing heartfelt 
relief because " God is going to give you back in answer 
to our tears and prayers. If I had not received the good 
news just at the hour of vespers, I would have come to 
see you at once. I will certainly do so to-morrow between 
five and six in the evening; but I will send beforehand to 
know if that will be the right thing for you. For six-and- 
twenty years you have been studying our convenience. It 
is our turn now to study yours. If we can do so for a long 
time to come, it will make us exceedingly happy." 

The return to health was only partial. Until the spring 
of 1772, Van Swieten was able to discharge a few of his 

332 



THE DEATH OF VAN SWIETEN 333 

multifarious duties. Then he was found to be suffering 
from a gangrene of the foot, soon pronounced incurable. 
In his residence at Schonbrunn he was still in touch with 
the Imperial Family, who lavished upon him every mark of 
attention. 1 Archduke Maximilian and his sisters Marianne 
and Elizabeth were present when their old friend received 
the last Sacraments. Maria Theresa had to forego her 
intention of accompanying them as she could not trust 
herself not to break down. But Van Swieten lived for 
nearly three weeks longer and she had other opportunities 
of giving renewed expression to her sympathy and grati- 
tude. She was the last person to whom he spoke before 
sinking into unconsciousness. 

From the time of his settlement in Austria, Van Swieten 's 
energy was finding scope in at least five main directions. 
He had a full and happy domestic life. He had first found 
fame as an author, and the work in which he took most 
pride was five volumes of commentaries on the aphorisms 
of Boerhaave. The first two were published before he left 
Holland, the fifth was completed shortly before his death. 
He had the medical oversight of the Imperial Family and 
also of the pupils at the Theresianum. His prefecture of 
the Imperial Library led to his presidency of the Censorship 
Commission; his lectures on medical science to an intel- 
lectual awakening throughout the country, to Vienna's new 
and progressive university, and to the reform of the medical 
department of the army. It may well be asked if any 
man, even one with an insatiable appetite for work, could 
give a sufficient amount of attention to such numerous and 
responsible duties. 

Maria Theresa's letters show that, in any case of illness 
in her household, she was impressed anew by Van Swieten 's 
skill and devotion. But it must also be conceded that, in 
the ordinary course of things, the daily round of visits was 
apt to be unduly hurried, and the first symptoms of indis- 
position were not always promptly detected. It ought not 
to have been left to Maria Theresa and the cupping surgeon 
to find out what was really the matter with Empress Josepha. 

1 Except the Emperor, whose grief for the death of his child made him 
refuse to hold any intercourse with the doctor who had failed to save her. 



334 MARIA THERESA 

At the same time a mistake in diagnosis was very apt to 
occur in the case of a patient who was never without an 
eruption of some kind. 

Van Swieten's distrust of inoculation was not, as ihas 
been stated, the outcome of wrong-headed prejudice, but 
of a justifiable and widely held scientific opinion. He was 
never inaccessible to new ideas, and it cannot be doubted 
that, but for demands that left him no margin of leisure, 
he would have found time for a thorough investigation of 
the subject, which De Haen's diatribes kept prominently in 
the foreground. 

Towards the close of his life, Maria Theresa's physician 
was associated with her second successful endeavour to 
benefit the people of Hungary. There, as in Austria, the 
Counter-Reformation had given the Jesuits complete con- 
trol of the schools. In both countries security of tenure 
led to the same relaxation of effort and the same mechanical 
curriculum. The so-called University of Tyrnau was little 
more than a dead-alive theological seminary. No medical 
department had ever been attached to it. The Empress- 
Queen had set her mind on extending to Hungary the 
educational advantages of the Austrian provinces, beginning 
with a well-equipped university. Hampered as usual by 
shortage of funds, she proposed, in the first instance, merely 
to ensure efficient theological and legal teaching at Tyrnau. 
But Van Swieten's remonstrances led to the installation of 
a medical school modelled on that of Vienna. So rapid 
was the increase of students that, in the course of a year or 
two, more spacious housing was required. Maria Theresa 
could not afford to erect another palatial building, but she 
took a very popular step when she transferred the Hungarian 
University to the ancient capital of Buda and established it 
in the unused royal residence. 

Had Van Swieten lived one year longer, he would have 
had the satisfaction of seeing the educational institutions 
of his adopted country entirely freed from the stultifying 
influence of the Jesuits. He must, however, have known 
that their day was nearly over, as he heard of their expulsion 
from one kingdom after another. Political intrigues led 
to their banishment from Portugal in 1759. In France 
and Spain it came to be recognized that the absolute power 



SUPPRESSION OF THE JESUITS 335 

of their General was a standing menace to the authority of 
the Crown. Both countries contrived to rid themselves of 
the Jesuits in 1767. The smaller Bourbon states adopted 
the same policy. Maria Theresa was given to understand 
that her allies expected her to join them in seeking the 
complete suppression of the Company of Jesus. Its parti- 
sans hoped for her assistance in saving it, and this would 
have been her own preference. But her co-Regent and 
her Chancellor were identified with the party demanding 
suppression. When everything depended on the choice of 
a new Pope, Joseph betook himself to Rome, and threw 
all his influence into the anti-Jesuitic scale. The result was 
the election of an avowed enemy of the Company, Cardinal 
Ganganelli, who became Clement XIV. 

" The Empress was obliged to content herself with de- 
claring her absolute neutrality in the quarrel, and her will- 
ingness, while doing nothing either for or against the 
Jesuits, to accept without question, as an obedient daughter 
of the Church, the decision of the Papal See. Thus, when 
in 1773 she was informed that the King of Spain actually 
held in his hand the Papal brief for the suppression of the 
Order, she could raise no further objection. But . . . she 
demanded the alteration of the clause which placed the 
confiscated property of the Jesuits in the hands of the 
Pope. Only upon condition that the property should fall 
to the State to be used for purposes of religion, would she 
acquiesce in the brief. The abolition of the Order, in the 
Plabsburg countries, was effected without disturbance. The 
influence of the Empress secured gentle and liberal treat- 
ment for the members of the suppressed Society. Sufficient 
pensions were allotted to them; and of the residue of the 
wealth a fund was formed for the completion: of certain 
educational reforms which Maria Theresa had much at 
heart." 1 

At last it had become possible to take thought for the 
educational needs of the young citizen, as distinguished 
from the predestined soldier, student, or civil servant. It, 
was a long step downward from such an establishment as 
the Theresianum to the secondary schools which rival 

1 Bright. Joseph II, pp. 62-3. 



336 MARIA THERESA 

religious societies had multiplied out of all proportion to 
the needs of the country. 

The new regulations of 1753, which included the pro- 
vision for periodical examinations, made it very evident 
that the days of the perfunctory teacher were numbered. 
Yet the Jesuits clung to their sixteenth-century methods, 
and slipshod Latin remained the staple of teaching in their 
institutions. The dissolution of their Society left the State 
in possession of the deserted gymnasia. The way was clear 
for the launching of a better system of education for the 
children of well-to-do parents. 

Had Van Swieten still been alive, Maria Theresa might 
have been persuaded to rise to the height of her oppor- 
tunity. As it happened, a scheme which had much to com- 
mend it, was utterly rejected because it was associated with 
secularization of school teaching. Other schemes were pro- 
posed, but in th,e end, though history, geography, and 
arithmetic were made compulsory, Latin continued to be 
the chief subject of instruction. It was the natural result 
of making the regular clergy predominant in the manage- 
ment of the schools. 

But while children of the wealthier class reaped little 
benefit from the change of teachers, the introduction, in 
the year 1775, of a thoroughly practical system of elemen- 
tary education calls for unstinted praise. As in the case 
of the Secondary Schools, there was much preliminary dis- 
cussion. Scheme after scheme was submitted to the Empress, 
each with some flaw which led to its rejection. In the end 
it was decided to issue an invitation to Felbiger, Abbot of 
Sagan, in Silesia, an educational expert, whose methods 
had produced excellent results in various parts of the 
Empire. His services could not be obtained for a longi 
period without application to the new ruler of Silesia. 
Frederick, however, declared himself happy to have the 
opportunity of proving his friendship for Her Majesty. He 
therefore placed no restriction on the length of Felbiger 's 
stay in Austria. 1 

Having secured the help of a reformer in whom she 
believed, Maria Theresa " placed the task of organizing 

1 See Von Arneth, Maria Theresia, Vol. IX, p. 248. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 337 

primary education unreservedly in his hands. He did not 
disappoint her expectations. In a very short time, by the 
suppression of certain small schools, by a careful selection 
of teachers, and by a wise course of study, he established 
in most of the provinces of the Empire a fairly successful 
organization. The threefold classification of schools wasj 
adopted. He placed in most of the large towns normal 
schools which should represent the perfection of the system, 
and a head school in the centre of each district, usually in 
the seat of some decayed Jesuit establishment; while the 
villages were supplied with primary schools in which the 
first elements of education were taught. The movement was 
energetically supported by the Empress." 1 She insisted 
that Hungary should partake in the advantages of the Fel- 
biger system and of the improvement in secondary educa- 
tion. The admirable public schools of modern Hungary 
still receive benefit from the fund derived from the proceeds 
of confiscated Jesuit property. Maria Theresa's achieve- 
ment has much in common with that of John Knox, when he 
applied monastic wealth to the establishment of an educa- 
tional system in Scotland. 

At each of her country residences the Empress started a 
school for the children of her servants and of the workers 
on the estate. Teachers and pupils were kept up to the 
mark by the probability of Her Majesty's appearance at 
the viva voce examinations. If the youngsters failed to 
attend regularly, things were not made pleasant for the 
parents. The example of the monarch was followed by 
many of the wealthier nobles. Nothing was more likely to 
win Imperial favour than a reputation for educational en- 
thusiasm. Not, however, till after her death was it known 
how near to the heart of Maria Theresa was the enlighten- 
ment of her people. During the last hours of her life she 
had added a codicil to her will, bequeathing a substantial 
legacy to the normal school fund, " with instructions that it 
should be utilized according to the advice of Felbiger, where 
it was most needed." 

During the years when the Abbot of Sagan was elabo- 
rating and launching his scheme of public instruction, an 

1 Joseph II, p 69. 



338 MARIA THERESA 

agitation was in progress for the abolition of that hideous 
appendage of the Criminal Court — the torture chamber. 
The period associated with the reforming zeal of Haugwitz 
witnessed the appointment of commissions to prepare new 
codes of civil and criminal law. " The civil code produced 
in 1766 was not one of the most successful efforts of the 
Theresian epoch. Under Joseph II it had to be replaced by 
a new codification." 

The Nemesis T heresiana, or Criminal Code, was a more 
satisfactory compilation. But when it was promulgated in 
1768, the more humane element in the community deeply 
regretted the retention of judicial torture and the number 
of crimes still punishable by death. 

In Sonnenfels, a shining light of the Legal Faculty, the 
victims of a lingering barbarism found a strong champion. 
Within and without the University, by speech and by writing, 
he urged the need of repeal. He addressed himself directly 
to the Empress and stirred up the consciences of the medical 
staff, whose opinion on such a subject had weight with 
Maria Theresa. In spite of her predilection for Sonnen- 
fels whom, as the son of a converted Jew, she regarded 
as a brand plucked from the burning, the Empress resented 
the attack on her newly completed code. In 1772, she 
issued an injunction to the inconvenient agitator to keep 
the death penalty and torture out of his lectures and pub- 
lications. He replied by a vigorous defence of the right 
of criticism. It was finally resolved to ascertain with regard 
to torture only, the opinion not merely of the Council of 
State, but of the governors and chief justices of Austria, 
Bohemia, and Moravia. Nearly all the provincial authori- 
ties advocated the restriction of torture, as a means pf 
securing evidence, to such crimes as treason, false coinage, 
and robbery with violence. A majority of the Council of 
State, though not of the whole body of consultants, declared 
for abolition. 

Maria Theresa was prepared to endorse the proposal- of 
the Conservative party for the limitation of torture, when 
Joseph, who had hitherto reserved his opinion, intervened 
on the side of Sonnenfels and the abolitionists. His in- 
fluence, seconded by that of Kaunitz, turned the scale. 
Hungary could only be reached through her own legislators. 



VARIATIONS OF KAUNITZ 339 

But on January 2nd, 1776, legal torture was abolished in 
the Austrian provinces, in Bohemia, Moravia, and Galicia. 

The restriction of the death penalty was not seriously 
considered in the reign of Maria Theresa. And travellers 
on their way to Vienna continued to shudder as they passed 
" a great many gibbets with men hanging on them, and 
heads exposed on wheels, ignobly placed near the road as 
a terror to robbers." 

In so far as it depended on Maria Theresa, a cause was 
as good as won if it were championed by Kaunitz as 
well as the Emperor. The former had attained celebrity 
as a Foreign Minister, but it was not for nothing that he 
bore the more comprehensive title of State Chancellor. 
There was no great public question on which he was not 
competent to give an opinion. And, as time went on, 
matters which had formerly been submitted to the judgment 
of Haugwitz, Van Swieten, and others, came to be referred 
to Kaunitz, and Maria Theresa was ever the more convinced 
that there was no one whose advice was more worthy of 
acceptance, or who could so promptly suggest a way out of 
difficulties. He was several years older than herself, but 
circumstances had kept him abreast of the times, while his 
familiarity with different countries and conditions of life 
had given him a freedom from prejudice and breadth of 
view to which the Empress could lay no claim. His skill as 
a diplomatist was in constant demand, and a proposal that 
roused Her Majesty's suspicion, when tempestuously advo- 
cated by Joseph, might conceivably assume a different aspect 
when Kaunitz, in language purged of all intemperance, had 
given at least half a dozen reasons for supporting it. 

The long, unbroken friendship between Maria Theresa 
and her Chancellor is the more remarkable, when we con- 
sider his absolute disregard of her standard of morality and 
his scant attention to religious observances. Also her scorn 
may be imagined if any one but Kaunitz had shown the 
same terror of infection and the same shrinking from any 
reference to the " time to die." After the epidemic of 1767 
it came to be understood that " nothing allusive to the 
mortality of human nature must ever be rung in his ears, 
and that to mention the smallpox was enough to knock him 

Up for the day." 1 1 Swinburne. 



3 4 o MARIA THERESA 

As he advanced in years he. became more and more of 
a faddist in regard to his health. It may be safely inferred 
that, like many of his contemporaries, he had been impressed 
by a treatise on diet by Cornaro, a Venetian octogenarian. 
The English translation was entitled, Sure and Certain 
Methods of attaining a Long and Healthy Life. Presum- 
ably Kaunitz had a collection of similar works; for he cer- 
tainly did not learn from Cornaro to clean his teeth before 
rising from table. Sir Henry Swinburne describes the pro- 
cess as "a nauseating operation that lasted a prodigious long 
time." He adds that the Chancellor, though not far short of 
seventy, was "full of childish vanities, and wished to be 
thought to excel in everything," especially it would seem in 
drawing champagne corks and mixing salads I Moreover, 
" he was dressed very oddly. In business, however, he was 
intelligent and far above any subterfuges and falsehoods. He 
was always silent when he did not choose, to express his 
real sentiments." In a venal age he might well have been 
styled the " Incorruptible." He. had also a better claim 
than the French Minister, Choiseul, to the title of " Cocher 
de l'Europe." His driving was disastrous to France and did 
not restore Silesia to Austria, but it certainly frustrated 
Frederick's ambition to make conquests in Bohemia. 




MARIA THERESA IN LATER LIFE 



CHAPTER XXXV 

MARIA THERESA'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH HER 
CHILDREN— THE WAR OF THE BAVARIAN SUC- 
CESSION 

THERE is no dearth of first-hand impressions of 
Maria Theresa in her last decade. Her fame had 
so long been blown about Europe that tourists 
arrived in Vienna with whetted curiosity. With their letters 
of introduction they bustled around, seeking presentation at 
Court, engaging in conversation with exalted personages, 
or, in default of influence, with obscure citizens, and com- 
monly swallowing facts and tittle-tattle with equal avidity. 
Their published letters and notes of travel throw interest- 
ing sidelights on the outward life of the Empress-Queen. 
But their answers to the question " What was she like as 
a woman?" must be taken with considerable reserve. Great, 
apparently, was the temptation to enlarge on her singulari- 
ties to the neglect of every essential quality. Hence the 
partial, one-sided, sometimes repellent portraits that have 
found their way into circulation labelled " Maria Theresa." 

Travellers who were chiefly struck by her assiduous at- 
tendance at religious services, her rigid observance of Lent, 
and other seasons of abstinence, and the devotional exer- 
cises to which she gave herself up on certain anniversaries, 
announced that " the Sovereign was quite sunk in the de- 
votee." Others noted with surprise that the crusade against 
laxity of morals was continued when the death of the 
Emperor Francis had excluded the motive of personal 
jealousy. They inferred that the Empress must be ex- 
cessively fond of scandalous detail, and the pictures they 
drew account for such representations of her as appear, for 
example, in George Sands' Consuelo. 

Her letters, however, make it perfectly clear that only 

34» 



342 MARIA THERESA 

a mistaken sense of public duty could have induced Maria 
Theresa to listen to reports of individual shortcoming. She 
takes her son Ferdinand sternly to task for opening a com- 
munication not addressed to him. " Even a letter to a ser- 
vant should be sacred," she says. " We have no right 
to the secrets of other people. Spying is barely permissible 
in the service of the State." 

Yet another distorted impression is that of Maria Theresa 
as a domineering mother, laying down the law to daughters 
no longer young. This seems to have originated in a too 
literal acceptance of the half-playful, half-petulant com- 
ments of Archduchess Elizabeth on the dulness of her life. 
But we have seen that the eldest Archduchess refused to 
leave her mother even for a time, and obviously had no 
difficulty in pursuing an independent course. On days of 
special sanctity, Elizabeth 1 , as the more robust of the two 
sisters, was doubtless liable to the necessity of accompany- 
ing her mother to a maximum of religious ceremonies, 
otherwise she was as free to follow her own bent as Marianne. 
The Empress saw her daughters in the morning if they 
happened to attend the same Mass, otherwise they did not, 
as a rule, hold any intercourse till the day was far advanced. 

In her later years Maria Theresa slept badly. To lie 
awake seemed to her a sheer waste of time. Going to rest 
at ten, she frequently wakened soon after midnight, wrote 
letters till she became drowsy, and then returned to bed, 
rising as usual at five. At six o'clock she still heard Mass, 
afterwards working till close on noon. Towards the hour 
when she had formerly taken time to see her children, she 
now attended a second Mass. To save time she dined alone. 
The afternoons not devoted to public business were spent 
in writing to the absent members of her family. Each 
had a letter from her once a fortnight. If the recipient 
were in Paris or Naples it took a fortnight to arrive, a 
month before the answer could be expected. 

In the Hofburg, at Vienna, there is a charming miniature 
of the Empress -Queen in her widow's weeds, seated at her 
writing-table. Quill in hand, she has looked up for a 
moment, with the radiant expression of one who is holding 
pleasant converse by word of mouth rather than by pen. 
It need hardly be remarked that, in her letters to her chil- 



MARIA THERESA'S CORRESPONDENCE 343 

dren, the didactic strain prevailed. But there were also 
letters which contained no word of admonition — letters of 
congratulation, of thanks for felicitations received, of warm 
interest in domestic occurrences, inquiries concerning the 
teething of the last baby, or the inoculation of the older: 
grandchildren, requests for hospitality to travelling friends, 
chronicles of the daily happenings in Vienna, Schonbrunn, 
or Laxenburg; and, as the years roll past, more and more 
frequent references to her own failure in health. 

Of this vast family correspondence, only fragments have 
been preserved. When their immediate purpose was ful- 
filled, the Empress destroyed the letters from all her children 
but two. Those she kept were written by Joseph and Marie 
Antoinette. Her sons and daughters obeyed in the main 
her oft-repeated injunction to burn her own letters, but 
most of them treasured a few. Joseph and Marie Antoinette 
retained a great many, while Ferdinand and his consort 
clung to their whole store. In these various groups of 
letters we come indeed face to face with the real Maria 
Theresa. 

Many a time she must have smiled over the reading and 
answering of communications from her younger daughter- 
in-law. Long before the marriage of Ferdinand his mother 
was in correspondence with Marie Beatrix d'Este. Indeed, 
we may almost see the older woman untying her apron- 
string that the Prince may be more firmly tethered to that 
of the wife five years older than himself. Though Madam 
Beatrix kept a jealous eye on the doings of her husband, 
she was a vivacious and lovable yokefellow. Neither to her 
nor to his mother did Ferdinand give much cause for un- 
easiness. As compared with the ebullient state of things 
in Parma, the rule of the young representatives of Milan 
and Modena seemed to exemplify all the virtues in unison. 

It cannot be doubted that the Empress wrote with equal 
regularity to both daughters-in-law. " The Incomparable" 
is her own name for the mother of Leopold's goodly array 
of sons. Yet the overflowing affection that appears in 
every reference to Marie Beatrix is subdued when she comes 
to speak of Marie Louise. To the former she could say, 
"I do not look upon you as a daughter-in-law, but as my 
own daughter. As such you have given me every reason to 
love you." 



344 MARIA THERESA 

Maria Theresa's birthday brought her into touch with 
all her children at once. On May 13th, 1776, she writes to 
Ferdinand and Beatrix: "Here we are at Laxenburg, in 
the most beautiful weather. Your dear letters and good 
wishes came just when we were at breakfast under the 
trees in the garden — the Emperor, that is to say, and my 
two daughters and myself." The outdoor life was con- 
tinued during the summer, but by the month of August 
the Empress had begun to pay the penalty of recklessly 
exposing herself to damp and draughts. A rheumatic swell- 
ing of the right arm interfered sadly with her correspond- 
ence. Great was her satisfaction when she regained the 
use of her "wretched paw." But as she constantly forgot 
to take precautions she was never long free from rheu- 
matism, and withal came toothache and painful inflamma- 
tion of the face and eyes. " I am getting old at a furious 
rate " is her comment on the recurrent ailments. 

In a very chastened mood she acknowledges the greet- 
ings from Milan for her sixtieth birthday (May 13th, 1777): 
" Your good wishes, your anxiety about my health, might 
reanimate a corpse. For your satisfaction be it known 
unto you that I am quite well again: somewhat wanting in 
strength, to be sure, and by no means jubilant as I think 
of my sixty years and what they stand for. . . . You wish 
my days prolonged. I would remind you of the restrictions 
of my life, and of the terrible account to be rendered at 
the last, an account that grows heavier day by day. There 
is nothing to be gained by growing old: you become slack 
in your duties, and have always to be making excuses for 
yourself; you lose ground and do not regain it. Never- 
theless, at the moment I feel ready to resign myself to all 
the drawbacks. For your sakes I will try to keep alive 
a tender mother and friend, who has no thought save for 
your welfare, and to give you love in return for all you 
give to her." 

The talk of resignation failed to reassure Beatrix. To 
her renewed expression of anxiety her mother-in-law re- 
plies: " I love you so dearly that I assure you I will take 
care of myself. I will even coddle myself to rid you of un- 
easiness. Only a powerful motive could make me promise 
that." 



MARIA THERESA'S CORRESPONDENCE 345 

The family of Ferdinand, like those of Leopold, Caroline, 
and Marie Antoinette, led off with a namesake of the Em- 
press. At the age of five Theresa of Modena delighted her 
grandmother with an original birthday letter. The child's 
mother is assured that " the charming letter of dear Theresa 
is astonishing for her age, and you are right in thinking 
that I would rather have a few lines of her own composition 
than a sheaf of compliments. I beg of you not to over- 
burden her with lessons." The upbringing of children 
is a frequent topic in the correspondence with Beatrix. 
" I am glad," writes the Empress, " that you are going to 
Lake Garda. You will find the Duke and Duchess of 
Gloucester, 1 who are spending the summer there. They 
have two children, who usually go about bareheaded and 
without stockings, the girl with her hair cut short on her 
forehead, like a boy. It is a style that I dislike exceed- 
ingly. The Princess de Ligne is here with a girl of four 
in similar guise. It is really going too far. Next thing we 
shall see children with no clothes at all, running about like 
negroes. Everything is carried to extremes nowadays. That 
is the rock on which this enlightened age will make ship- 
wreck." Who shall say that we have nothing in common 
with the eighteenth century while bare-legged, hatless chil- 
dren proclaim the inexhaustible influence of Rousseau? 

That Maria Theresa's scorn for eccentric innovations did 
not imply any liking for fussiness in children's garments is 
evident from her criticism of the first portrait of Theresa of 
Modena. "The long-desired picture of my dear little grand- 
daughter has this moment arrived. . . . Why did you have 
the little one painted in such a frightful cap?. Nothing is 
prettier than the head, the brow, the hair of children, and 
a simple round cap, with no ornamentation of lace or 
ribbons, is what suits them best. Forgive the comparison, 
but this child's cap reminds me of the periwig of her 
worthy grandfather. In fine, 'tis a villainous painting, but 
the subject is charming and dear and interesting, and a 
cause of great joy to me." 

Maria Theresa was innocent of any qualification to pose 

1 The Duke, a brother of George III, married the widowed Countess 
of Waldegrave. It was one of the unions which led to the passing of the Royal 
Marriage Act. 



346 MARIA THERESA 

as a critic of pictorial art, but she knew a good likeness; 
when she saw it, and no gifts delighted her more than por- 
traits of her children and grandchildren. To Marie Chris- 
tine, who had gone with her husband to Italy, the Empress 
writes from Vienna: " Lacy has just been with me. He 
found me surrounded by three Mimis and two Alberts. I 
have the portraits from Sohonbrunn here, as well as your 
new one, which Lacy thought admirable, and so does every 
one else." 

" My dear daughter and friend " is a favourite beginning 
of the letters to Mimi, who was sadly missed during her 
winter in Italy. There is a reminiscence of personal ex- 
perience in the expression of fear lest this dearest member 
of her family should suffer from the cold of Florence. " I 
should be sorry," says the mother, " if little Mimi got chil- 
blains and could not go walking as usual." The appre- 
hension will not seem groundless to those who have learned 
that going south does not invariably mean getting warm. 

Viewed through the mists of nearly forty years, Maria 
Theresa's own visit to Italy seemed strangely remote and 
unreal. She scarcely recognized herself in the buoyant 
young Princess with her husband by her side, and all her 
career before her, who had welcomed the return of spring 
to the City of Flowers. Her power of movement was be- 
coming more and more restricted. As in the case of her 
mother, a chronic form of dropsy had caused her to become 
" enormously fat and unwieldy." On the slightest exertion 
she suffered from difficulty of breathing. In all her palaces 
there had to be some device to save her going up and 
down stairs. Caroline Pichler, the daughter of her former 
reader and tirewoman, Caroline Hieronymus, tells how, as 
a child, she sometimes visited Laxenburg with her parents. 
The reward of a good little girl was permission to stand 
between the Empress and her mother when they were seated 
on a sofa, which by some mechanical contrivance could 
be raised to the upper story or lowered to the ground- 
floor. 

In the Hofburg a trap-door was introduced above the 
chapel on the second story, so that the Empress could hear 
Mass without leaving her apartments. At Schonbrunn the 
ground-floor was adapted for every purpose. There, on a 



THE BAVARIAN SUCCESSION 347 

fine summer morning, a stout figure in black, with a box 
of State papers buckled to her waist, might have been seen 
moving slowly to " a covered walk in' the garden," where 
she spent her working day. In the summer of 1778 she 
could still say, "My health is well maintained; but I do 
not get any thinner, though I hardly ever partake of soup 
or meat. I live on fruit and vegetables, and when I am 
tired I sleep, like the dogs, at any hour of the day or 
night." 

The tendency to fall asleep in the daytime was not due 
to any failure of mental power, but to the strain of a 
great anxiety, which robbed her of her limited capacity 
for resting at night. When she closed her eyes she could 
only see four armies facing one another in Bohemia. Two 
were her own, under the command of the Emperor and of 
Laudon. The invading armies were Prussian, the one led 
by, Frederick himself, the other by his brother, Prince 
Henry. 

The renewal of strife between Austria and Prussia was 
the outcome of Joseph's endeavour to make himself master 
of Bavaria, by methods similar to those which Frederick had 
employed in order to establish himself in Silesia. The 
childless Maximilian of Bavaria died in the end of 1777. 
" Charles Theodore of the Palatinate was the next repre- 
sentative of the common ancestor of the Bavarian and Pala- 
tinate branches of the House of Wittelsbach. But Charles 
Theodore was also without legitimate heirs, and cared very 
little for Bavaria." 1 He was particularly anxious to safe- 
guard recently acquired dominions on the Rhine from Fred- 
erick of Prussia, whom he suspected of designs upon them. 
He was, therefore, not unwilling to recognize the insubstantial 
Austrian claims to portions of the Bavarian inheritance in 
return for a guarantee of the remainder and of the Rhenish 
provinces. In order to give the transaction a semblance 
of regularity it was embodied in a Convention. 

To Maria Theresa any attempt to " play the Prussian " 
was abhorrent, and she pointed out the danger of the 
course on which her son had embarked. Her warnings 
fell on deaf ears. The game of bluff would have stood 

1 A History of Germany, 171 5-18 '/j, p. 311. 



348 MARIA THERESA 

a better chance of success, if Austrian troops had not been 
marched into Bavaria before the formalities in regard to 
the Convention were complete. It had, indeed, been signed 
by the Elector Palatine, but it was essential that it should 
also be endorsed by his presumptive heir, Duke Charles of 
Zweibriicken. The Duke had no inclination to oblige the 
Court which had frustrated his hope of marrying Arch- 
duchess Amelia. At the first hint of support from Frederick 
the Great he withdrew his sulky promise to sign the agree- 
ment, and appealed to the Imperial Diet to uphold the in- 
tegrity of Bavaria. Thus it came about that Austria was 
faced with the alternative of evacuating the Electoral do- 
minions, or maintaining her position in the teeth of Prussia 
as champion of the aggrieved Prince of the Empire. 

With the powerful Austrian army at his back Joseph 
felt himself a match for Prussia alone. But Frederick had 
contrived to be beforehand with Austria at the Court pf 
St. Petersburg. Only as long as the Czarina was pre- 
occupied with the Turks could the Emperor count on having 
to deal with a single enemy. This was the moment for 
testing the value of the vaunted Bourbon Alliance. 

But France, on the verge of a war with England, main- 
tained that she was not pledged to assistance save in defence 
of her ally's hereditary possessions. Looking ahead, Maria 
Theresa saw the heritage she had spent her life in guarding 
ruthlessly sacrificed to aspirations with which she was not 
in sympathy. She would fain have bespoken the mediation 
of a friendly Power to end the state of tension without 
going to war. 

Paltry in the last degree seemed to her the objections 
about what would be said of her if Austria were to give 
way. A notable letter to Joseph', on March 14th, 1778, 
begins thus: "The inconveniences and dangers which I 
foresaw from the moment when we sent troops into Bavaria 
have now become serious realities, and I should be unworthy 
of the name of monarch or mother if I did not take measures 
fitted to the circumstances, without heeding what may be 
said about myself. We are threatened with nothing less 
than the overthrow of our dynasty and of the monarchy, in 
all probability with a complete revolution of Europe. To 
ward off such disasters no sacrifice is too great. I will not 



THE BAVARIAN SUCCESSION 349 

even shrink from the vilifying of my name. Let them call 
me dotard, coward, fool, nothing shall prevent me from ex- 
tricating Europe from this most menacing position." After 
reviewing the whole situation and pointing out the risks to 
which every portion of her dominions would be subjected, 
she concludes: " I have not written this in ill-temper, or 
from faint-heartedness. My courage is as strong as it was 
thirty years ago, but I will not lend a hand in striking at 
the foundations of my throne." 

Insight, sagacity!, common sense, were all on the side of 
the Empress. Her voice had no uncertain sound. Yet, like 
another Cassandra, she was doomed to realize the futility 
of her predictions. When the methods of diplomacy were 
exhausted, and war was staring her in the face, she did not 
seek to shift the blame to the King of Prussia. Joseph 
is told that " unfortunately it is we who are at fault, for 
we will not speak out clearly. And we cannot speak out, 
because we desire that to which we have no right, and 
which we have been hoping to gain by chance of circum- 
stance." 

The chance on which the Emperor and Kaunitz had most 
confidently reckoned was Frederick's manifest reluctance to 
take up arms if a settlement could be effected otherwise. 
Not till the Prussians had invaded Bohemia was Joseph 
convinced that the old King's craving for peace was ex- 
ceeded by his determination to keep the power of Austria 
in check. The letter in which her son admitted his dis- 
illusion was unfortunately misinterpreted by Maria Theresa. 
There seemed no room for doubt that the eleventh hour 
was past, yet she jumped to the conclusion that Joseph 
would now be as thankful as herself if the struggle could 
be arrested. On her sole authority she sent off an envoy to 
Frederick to renew negotiations. Her precipitancy caused 
the only dangerous breach that ever occurred between her- 
self an'd her son. Infuriated by a step which seemed to 
lay him open' to a charge of cowardice, Joseph poured 
forth reproaches, and threatened to throw up the command 
and retire into Italy without going near Vienna. 

Fortunately he could take no steps without consulta- 
tion with Laudon, and the wise and tactful counsel of the 
older commander pacified the younger, and kept him at his 



350 MARIA THERESA 

post. Maria Theresa's intervention was not so infelicitous 
as at first appeared. It did not bring her immediate peace, 
but by delaying the advance of the Prussian army it gave 
the Austrians time to take up an almost impregnable posi- 
tion, and to devastate the country between them and the 
enemy. Shortage of provisions and an outbreak of disease 
forced King Frederick to withdraw into winter quarters 
without risking a battle. 

Preparations for a spring campaign were carried on 
briskly in both camps, but the chance of future victory was 
all on the side of Prussia. For the Russo-Turkish struggle 
was at an end, and the Czarina was preparing to give 
active help to her ally. The diplomatists were therefore 
kept at work, and the result was a conference at Teschen 
early in the New Year. Maria Theresa naturally desired 
that France should be the mediating Power. Frederick, 
however, contrived that Russia should become, for the first 
time, the arbiter of Europe. 

By the Peace of Teschen Bavaria passed almost intact 
to the Elector Palatine and his heirs. Austria's only gain 
of territory was the strip of land between the Danube on 
the north, the Inn on the east, and the Salza on the south. 
It was a desirable link between Upper Austria and Tyrol, 
though but a slight return for the expenditure of the cam- 
paign and a certain loss of prestige. The peace which 
the Empress-Queen had so fervently desired to maintain 
was restored to her on her sixty-second birthday, May 
13th, 1779. 

One last passage of arms between her and her great 
antagonist remains to be chronicled. It was the outcome 
of her resolution to procure for her son Maximilian the 
office of Coadjutor to the Elector of Cologne. She had 
dreamed of a distinguished military career for her youngest- 
born, and had made various provisions for his mainten- 
ance. He was to succeed his uncle Charles as Grand 
Master of the Teutonic Order; and when Uncle Charles 
went the way of all flesh, and Marie and Prince Albert 
held sway in the Netherlands, Maximilian was to be Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of Hungary. 

In addition to the usual course of study he had the ex- 
ceptional advantage of a lengthy period of travel. One 



ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN 351 

after another he visited the Courts of the brothers and 
sisters who had not seen him since childhood. Their letters 
show a kindly desire to express the appreciation that would 
give pleasure to their mother, but they could not conceal 
their disapproval of the Archduke's tactlessness and inde- 
cision of character. Indeed, the verdict of the sagacious 
Leopold almost tallies with that of Sir Henry Swinburne, 
that " Maximilian was a good-natured, neither here nor 
there kind of youth." 1 

By the time he was twenty-three the Empress had become 
aware that it was no use urging him to emulate Prince 
Eugene and other great warriors. But the proposal to 
turn him into a Churchman and make him Coadjutor to an 
ecclesiastical Elector in the Archbishopric of Cologne and 
the Bishopric of Minister roused all King Frederick's an- 
tipathy to any extension of Habsburg influence. He strove 
hard to secure the election of a rival candidate, Prince 
Joseph Hohenlohe. But in this final encounter the Em- 
press-Queen came off victorious. Through the influence of 
Marie Antoinette she had obtained the support of France, 
through the influence of Joseph the support of Russia. In 
August, 1780, Maximilian was elected both in Cologne 
and Minister. 

The friendly attitude of the Czarina was due to the fact 
that the Emperor chanced to be her guest at the critical 
period in his brother's candidature. Maria Theresa had 
strongly opposed this latest development in what she re- 
garded as a craze for travelling. But Joseph perceived 
very clearly that in his attempt on Bavaria he had not been 
foiled by the army of Frederick, but by having nothing 
to oppose to the power of Russia in the background. As for 
the French Alliance, he had long suspected that its advan- 
tages were overrated, and his mother's plea that his pro- 
posed visit to the Czarina would wound the susceptibilities 
of France, did not weigh with him in the least. Neither, 
of course, did her disapproval of his association with a 
woman of the type of Catherine. He was convinced that 
only personal intercourse could do away with the antipathy 
to Austria which Frederick had fostered at the Russian 
Court. 

1 Memoirs of the Courts of Europe. 



352 MARIA THERESA 

Catherine at once agreed to the proposal of a meeting 
with the Emperor during her impending tour in Russian 
Poland. The King of Prussia's warnings led her to expect 
a grasping, overbearing despot. She was surprised and 
delighted to find a visitor whose intellectual brilliancy was 
combined with the unusual charm of perfect naturalness ; one, 
moreover, who travelled incognito and made no demand for 
elaborate entertainment. On the contrary, he laid himself 
out to entertain and amuse his hostess, and did it so success- 
fully that when the visit came to its appointed term she 
would not hear of his departure, and proposed that he 
should accompany her to her capital. The Emperor, grati- 
fied to perceive that the wall of prejudice was toppling 
over, accepted the invitation, and, to his mother's dismay, 
spent three weeks in St. Petersburg. He wisely abstained 
from any attempt to bring about a definite political agree- 
ment. It was enough for his purpose that he could leave 
the way open for the negotiation of a Russian Alliance if 
the need for it should arise. The consciousness that he 
was " stirring up the bile " of Frederick the Great gave a, 
malicious piquancy to an experience which he thoroughly 
enjoyed. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 
THE LAST DAYS OE MARIA THERESA 

" I was ever a fighter, so — one fight more, 
The best and the last ! 
I would hate that Death bandaged my eyes, and forbore, 
And bade me creep past." Browning 

JOSEPH returned to Vienna to find that his mother's 
pleasure in the installation of Maximilian had been 
partially eclipsed by the death of Prince Charles of Lor- 
raine. Princess Charlotte had predeceased her brother. 
He was therefore the last of Maria Theresa's kindred, of 
the same generation as herself. She looked upon his de- 
parture as a summons to put her own house in order. 

She was younger than her brother-in-law, and well within 
the three score years and ten. But throughout her public 
career, she had lived at high physical and mental pressure. 
The number of her days had little to do with the age of a 
woman who had given birth to sixteen children, who had 
never shirked the tremendous labour and responsibility of 
her calling, who had endured the additional strain of twoi 
prolonged and critical wars, of a series of desolating be- 
reavements, and of an illness which had robbed her of all 
her reserve force. Not without cause had she grown 
" weary with the march of life." Her letters reveal an 
ever-present dread lest she should become totally helpless. 
In May, 1780, she confides to Beatrix that she had much 
writing that ought to be done at once, " but my hands will 
no longer serve me. I am afraid of losing the use of them. 
It would be particularly awkward on account of my weight. 
No one would be able to move me." About the same time, 
her daughter Marie remarked that her mother was almost 
as breathless after a walk on level ground as she had 
formerly been when going up and down stairs. 

2 3 353 



354 MARIA THERESA 

The thought of Marie's departure for Brussels was so 
distressing to the Empress, that it was postponed till the 
spring of the following year. Thereupon Joseph announced 
that he would utilize the interval by making a tour of 
inspection in the Netherlands. At the same time he pro- 
posed to see something of England and Holland. 

At the mention of England, his mother's religious pre- 
judice was up in arms. The extraordinary outburst of 
anti-Catholic frenzy, known as the Gordon Riots, was a 
topic of the hour. Maria Theresa would scarcely have 
been human if she had not exclaimed, " This is what comes 
of the tolerance that is always being preached to me." To 
Marie Antoinette she wrote that " the events in London 
were unheard of in a civilized country. That is what comes 
of their vaunted freedom, their quite unique legislative 
system. Stability cannot exist apart from religion and 
morality." " The English," she said to Joseph, " are nearly 
all deists, infidels, and freethinkers. I tremble lest inter- 
course with such a nation should shake your belief in every- 
thing sacred amongst Catholics." The preacher of toler- 
ance was quite able to discriminate between the mote of a 
passing tumult and the beam of systematic persecution in 
Hungary and Moravia. He doubtless urged the unlikeli- 
hood of sudden change of belief on the part of a man 
verging on forty. But nothing short of a promise to forego 
the visit to the nation which had done so much to establish 
her on her throne, could restore his mother's peace of 
mind. 

In the shortening days of 1780 Maria Theresa was 
again troubled with pain and stiffness in her arms. But as 
she still dwelt in a cave of the winds, no one was surprised 
at the recurrence of rheumatism and of a cough which had 
troubled her in previous winters. On October 20th, she 
celebrated the fortieth anniversary of her accession. On All 
Souls' Day (Nov. 2nd) she made her usual pilgrimage to 
the vault in the Capuchin Church. A week later she drove 
to Schonbrunn, where the Emperor had assembled a shoot- 
ing party. The weather was unsettled, she caught a slight 
chill, and the cough became more troublesome. On the 
1 8th she wrote to Marie in Pressburg, that she had spent 
the day on the sofa, suffering from cold in her head and 



THE LAST DAYS OF MARIA THERESA 355 

difficulty in breathing, " but no fever, nothing of conse- 
quence." On the 20th she reassures her daughter by stat- 
ing that she had been equal to the routine of the day, 
had finished all her letters for the post, and had also been 
relieved by a copious bleeding. She had overruled her 
doctor's objections to the bleeding, but they were justified 
by a perceptible weakening of her heart's action. Thence- 
forward the fits of coughing and threatened suffocation 
became alarming. She no longer attempted to go to bed, 
but slept in her chair or on her sofa. On the 24th, when 
Prince Albert and Marie arrived in Vienna, there was no 
further doubt of the gravity of the illness. On the 26th 
the Empress informed Joseph of her intention to receive 
the last rites of the Church before the close of the day. 
Hitherto he had obstinately refused to accept the serious 
verdict of Van Swieten's favourite pupil, Dr. Anton Storck. 
That was not, however, astonishing; for even his less opti- 
mistic brother and sisters had moments of hope, when they 
saw their mother sitting up, fully dressed, and at intervals 
reading and signing papers. 

At her son's request, she consented to postpone Extreme 
Unction and simply receive the Sacrament. But that his 
anxiety was aroused is evident from the more disquieting! 
reports which he sent to the scattered members of the 
family. He also spent the night in the ante-chamber of 
his mother's room, from time to time going in to see her. 
Sometimes he found her battling with the terrible difficulty 
of breathing, sometimes quietly writing to the children who 
were far away. Seldom has the approach of death caused 
so little deviation from normal conditions as in the case 
of Maria Theresa. With her mind perfectly clear, she 
occupied the moments of comparative relief from suffering,, 
in ordinary work and in intercourse with her children, which 
she strove to make as natural as possible. 

The doctor was charged to warn her when the last rite 
could no longer be safely put off. In the early hours of 
November 28th, he informed her that the time had come.i 
She desired that the sons and daughters under her roof 
should be told of the forthcoming ceremony, but they were 
to feel no obligation to attend, if it would be too painful; 
for them. 



356 MARIA THERESA 

Nevertheless, she was gratified that they were all present; 
— the Emperor, Maximilian newly returned from his journey 
to Cologne, Marianne, Elizabeth, Marie and her husband, 
It was four o'clock on a morning, dark with the gloom of 
November, chilly and depressing in the room with its 
neutral-tinted hangings and its flickering candlelight. Still, 
it was no unfitting background for the dignified figure in 
the arm-chair — serene, austere, self-controlled, a traveller 
awaiting her viaticum, but none the less a queen. 

Her setting-forth was delayed until the following day. 
There was time for many a kindly word to those she was 
leaving behind. The sons and daughters, who had knelt 
beside her as she received the last rite, were recalled to 
her room shortly afterwards. One and all received her 
thanks for the love they had borne her and such counsel and 
encouragement as she still had strength to bestow. To the 
colleague of the past fifteen years, soon to be sole Regent, 
she committed the welfare of his brothers and sisters. 
Prince Albert states that he had never seen a man so over- 
come with grief as the Emperor at this moment of solemn 
leave-taking. He knelt at his mother's feet, kissing her 
hands till, in the old familiar way, she turned his face to 
hers and kissed his forehead. 

The one thing that Maria Theresa could not bear was 
to witness the sorrow of those who were dearest to her. 
When each member of the family had received the maternal 
kiss and blessing they were told " to retire to another 
apartment and recover their spirits." But Joseph was 
speedily brought back to assist his mother's final prepara- 
tions. To more than one document she affixed her signa- 
ture. She wrote a letter full of gratitude to Kaunitz. " She 
commissioned Count Esterhazy, the Hungarian Chancellor, 
to thank his countrymen for their fidelity and zeal, which 
had secured her throne ; and to entreat them to continue the 
same to her successor." In spite of the recurrent fits of 
choking, it seemed impossible that her life was merely a 
question of hours. 

But when she had bidden farewell to all the members of 
her suite, and commended their interests to the care of her 
eldest son, the brief revival of strength was over. Yet not- 
withstanding her weakness and suffering, nightfall found 



THE LAST DAYS OF MARIA THERESA 357 

her still sitting amongst her children, making brave attempts 
at conversation. Her exhausted appearance led some one 
to suggest that she should try to sleep. " You would have 
me sleep," she replied, " when at any minute I may be 
summoned before my Judge? I do not want to fall asleep 
and be taken unawares. These fifteen years I have been 
getting ready for Death. I will meet him awake." 

When the little company dispersed, the Emperor stayed 
on for the last night-watch beside his mother. At three 
o'clock the ebbing tide showed signs of flowing again. 
With reassuring distinctness Joseph was told to call Maxi- 
milian and then go and rest. At five he was invited back 
to have breakfast, probably the usual coffee, with the Em- 
press. Her other children paid their morning visit. All 
except Marianne were dismissed at six o'clock to go to 
Mass. Her sons had occupied Maria Theresa's attention 
during the night. In the early morning she had brief inter- 
views with her daughters. When Marie was joined by 
Prince Albert, the Empress remarked that, in bringing about 
their happy marriage, she had achieved at least one unquali- 
fied success. 

The thought of herself as a traveller was still present 
to her mind. When gusts of wind drove the rain through 
her open windows she observed that it was bad weather 
for the great journey. As the morning wore on, it became 
clear to every one that it was indeed the last day. To spare 
her daughters the pain of witnessing her departure, Maria 
Theresa decided that, when they took leave of her at ten 
o'clock, they should not return to the apartment which had 
been more of a .workroom than a sick-room. 

Despite the weary struggle for breath, a few more docu- 
ments were signed, a few more last charges given to Joseph 
in a voice that had grown very weak. Evening brought 
the usual agonizing climax. Storck offered a sedative, but 
the Empress put it aside, saying she feared it might pro- 
long her life, and that she did not desire, for it was killing 
her children to see her suffer. But Storck was duly thanked, 
and told that there was one thing he could still do for her. 
When the end came, he was to close her eyes and save the 
Emperor what would give him more pain than anything 
else. 



358 MARIA THERESA 

Towards nine o'clock the heroic conflict seemed nearly 
over. The longing for air had prompted the characteristic 
inquiry if the windows were open. Reassured on this point, 
Maria Theresa suddenly rose to her feet, and with a final 
effort for relief staggered from her chair to her sofa. 
Help was at hand as she sank down on the edge of the only 
bed she had known for over a week. She could still render 
some assistance as she was lifted on to the couch. Joseph 
expressed the fear that she was not yet resting comfortably. 
" Comfortable enough to die," she answered, and a moment 
later the last journey had begun. 



CONCLUSION 

MARIA THERESA'S greatness needs no further 
attestation than that of a reign which, taken all 
in all, is one long record of progress. That it 
was unequal progress goes without saying. In certain direc- 
tions it is scarcely discernible. In others the way of ad- 
vance is deliberately blocked. But even the checks im- 
posed from narrow and arbitrary motives did something to 
prevent dissipation of energy. And the history of the 
ensuing reign proves that, in the Habsburg dominions, the 
chariot of reform could never be driven at a gallop. 

Maria Theresa's limitations make her none the less worthy 
to be the heroine of a nation's history. To the guarantors 
of her inheritance her accession was but " a flaming op- 
portunity" 1 for glutting themselves with her possessions. 
Her genius made it "a flaming opportunity " for moving 
antagonistic races to a common enthusiasm and uniting them 
for her defence. There was genius, too, in the swift per- 
ception that the vindication of her rights was only half the 
battle. She had to render herself immune from further 
attack. Hence the peaceful revolution which brought the 
remotest provinces of her realm into touch with the central 
authority. Hence the inauguration of military, financial, 
educational, and judicial reforms. Benevolence rather than 
ambition prompted efforts for the spread of popular educa- 
tion, and the founding of institutions for the care of the 
sick, of homeless orphans, of the aged poor. Can we 
wonder that the " halcyon days of Maria Theresa are still 
proverbial throughout the whole extent of the Austrian 
dominions?" 2 

Her sculptured form on its lofty throne faces the palace 

1 Carlyle. 

2 Coxe, Vol. Ill, p. 483. 

359 



360 MARIA THERESA 

where she drew her first breath and her last. Her left hand 
keeps firm hold of the sceptre and the scroll of the Prag- 
matic Sanction. Her right points downwards to the great 
constellation of generals and statesmen whose deeds shed 
lustre on her reign. The horsemen in front of the throne 
are Daun and Laudon; those at the back are Khevenhiiller 
and Traun, victors respectively in the Seven Years' War and 
the War of the Austrian Succession. One figure stands 
out prominently from the group of statuary in front of 
the pedestal — it is Kaunitz. Behind him may be seen Bar- 
tenstein and the two great diplomatists, Starhemberg and 
Mercy- Argenteau. On the other three sides, positions 
equivalent to that of Kaunitz are given to Liechtenstein, 
Haugwitz, and Van Swieten. The monument is a fitting 
summary of the most brilliant chapter in the story of a 
nation. 

Recent days have witnessed the unveiling of a national 
monument to. another famous queen. Less than forty years 
separate the death of Maria Theresa from the birth of 
Victoria. From the historical point of view their reigns 
have little in common, yet the characters of the women to 
whom successive centuries did homage were cast in such 
similar moulds that it may be questioned if the course, of 
events would have been essentially different had the one 
been in the place of the other. Even in their upbringing 
there are points of resemblance, for the heiress to the British 
Crown spent her youth in an eighteenth-century atmosphere, 
and under the influence of German traditions. In the dawn 
of womanhood both were summoned to a task which had 
taxed the resources of generations of men. Both were 
actuated by a profound conviction of the sacredness of 
their calling, and dedicated themselves to its duties in a 
spirit of high seriousness. " To-morrow will be a terrible 
day for me," writes Maria Theresa in 1777, on the eve 
of the anniversary of her accession. " What account can 
I render for thirty-seven years of sovereignty?" 

Klopstock's ode on the death of the Empress-Queen 
proclaims her '■ the greatest of her race — greatest because; 
most human." In her humanity how near she comes to the 
celebrated queen of the nineteenth century. The one was 
as sure as the other that her red-letter day par excellence 



CONCLUSION 361 

was the February day on which she was married. Their 
affection for their own families overflowed to the households 
of their friends. Both queens proved themselves capable of 
staunch and enduring friendship. By associating the crown 
with a high moral standard, both exerted an elevating in- 
fluence on the social life of their times. 

Human in her virtues, Maria Theresa was no less human 
in her faults and blunders and inconsistencies. Neither 
her reason nor her common sense could stand against her 
more violent prejudices. The bigoted, inquisitorial side 
of her character was condemned by the public opinion of 
her own not very tolerant day. We must, however, beware 
of confusing a perverted sense of duty with moral de- 
linquency. It is significant that one who never indulged 
in complacent retrospect was able to say at the last that 
she had tried to do the right thing. She walked accord- 
ing to her light. Like that of other mortals it burned 
dimly at times, yet she never lost sight of the ideals of 
her youth. Thus 

" Her track across the fretful foam 
Of vehement action without scope or term 
Called history, keeps a splendour, due to wit 
Which saw one clue to life and followed it." 1 

By that clear vision of destiny Maria Theresa was enabled 
to frustrate the enemies who, in the beginning of her reign, 
came out to see a reed shaken in the wind, and finally to 
raise the House of Habsburg to a degree of power which 
it had not known since the days of Charles V. "Let not, 
therefore, her frailties be remembered : she was a very great 
woman." 2 

1 Matthew Arnold. 

2 An adaptation of Dr. Johnson's verdict on Goldsmith. 



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INDEX 



^Eneas Sylvius, Pope Pius IV, 220 
Age of Bach and Handel, The (J. A. 

Fuller-Mai tland), 212 
Age of the Enlightened Despot (A. H. 

Johnson), 223, 228, 230, 315 
Aix-la-Chapelle, xv, xvi, 161, 168, 225 

— Treaty of, 169-72, 181, 223, 228 
Albert I, Emperor, xviii 

Albert II, Emperor, xviii, xix 
Albert, Prince of Saxony (Duke of 
Saxe-Teschen), 248-51, 258, 265, 
281, 284, 28.5, 298-9, 309, 326, 

346. 355-7 
Alleghany Mountains, 228 
Alessandria, 282 
Alps, 8, 194 
Alsace, xiii, 143, 147-8 
Althan, Countess, 9, 13, igi 
Amelia, Empress, wife of Joseph I, 

5. 6, 10, 55, 125 
Amelia, Archduchess, d. of Maria 

Theresa, 181, 249, 277, 298, 305 

320-2 348 
America, North, 167, 168, 232, 247 ; 

British and French colonies in, 

228, 229, 245 
Anne, Qiieen of England, 8, 12 
Anne, Czarina, 60, 77 
Anhalt-Dessau, Prince Leopold of, 

91, 166 
Anson, naval commander, 168 
Army, Austrian, 73, 91, 93, 108, 130, 

142, 144, 146, 147, 158, 177-8, 

291-2, 348 

— Franco-Bavarian, 108, 126, 130, 
131, 148 

— Hungarian, 113-16, 133, 134 

— Pragmatic, 91, 108, 126, 137, 142 

— Prussian, 90, 177, 236 

— Saxon, 129, 130, 253 

Arneth, A. von, historian, 172, 236; 
references to his Geschichte Maria 
Theresia's, 27, 221, 316, 336 

Arnold, Matthew, 361 

Arabian Nights, 112 

Aranjuez, Treaty of, 227 

Aschaffenburg, 160 



Asturias, Prince of, 272 

Atkinson, C. T. See A History of 
Germany, 1715-1815 

Atlantic Ocean, 228 

Auersperg, Wilhelmina, Princess, 250, 
258, 285 

Augsburg, 155 

Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, and 
King of Poland, 47 

Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, and 
King of Poland, 47, 77, 83, 86, 88, 
108, in, 130, 136, 156, 233, 241, 
250, 251, 273 

Augustines, Church of the, 55, 143 

Aus Meinem Leben (J. W. von 
Goethe), 164, 267-70 

Austria, rise of, xiv ; association with 
House of Habsburg, xvii ; and 
Spain, xx, xxiii, xxiv ; and the War 
of the Spanish Succession, 7-9, 13 
29 ; and the War of the Polish 
Succession, 47-52, 57-8 ; and 
the War of the Austrian Succes- . 
sion, 80-4, Chapters VIII, IX, 
XI-XV ; and the diplomatic 
revolution, Chapter XXI, 229-32 ; • 
and the Seven Years' War, Chap- 
ters XXII, XXIII ; and the War 
of the Bavarian Succession, 347- ' 
50 ; reforms in government of, 
Chapter XVI 

— Court of, 40, 145, Chapter XVII, 
214-15, 220, 250, 329 

— Hat of, 102 

— House of, xiii, xiv, xvi, xvii, 14, 
114, 130, 157, 170, 181, 265. See 
also Habsburg, House of 

— Proposed Partition of, 89, 134, 
138 

B 

Babenberg, Leopold von, first Mar- 
grave of Austria, xv 

Babenberg, Heinrich Jasomirgott, 
first Duke of Austria, 195 

Babenberg, Leopold V (of dynasty), 
second Duke of Austria, 195 

Babenberg, Frederick VI, the War- 
like, Duke of Austria, xvii, 195 



371 



372 



MARIA THERESA 



Balance of Power, The (A. Hassall), 
231, 232 

Bar, Duchy of, 28, 35, 51, 52 

Barcelona, 3, 8, 12, 13, 69 

Barrier Fortresses, 7, 168 

Basle, xiv, xvi, xxii 

Bassand, Court Physician, 151 

Battenberg, Princess Henry of, 302 

Bartenstein, Secretary of the Con- 
ference, 32, 51, 52, 58, 66, 71, 78, 
79, 156, 173, 174, 187, 226, 227, 
288, 330, 360 

Batthyany, Ludwig, Hungarian 
Chancellor, 97, 115 

Batthyany, Charles, Hungarian 
Field-Marshal, 186 

Bavaria, its relations with Austria, 
49, 77-80, 88-9, 106, 130, 132, 
136, 142-3, 155, 164, 170, 273 ; 
with France, 88-9, 94, 108, 130, 
140 ; Joseph II's designs on, 347- 

5° 

— Electors of. See Charles Albert 
and Maximilian Joseph 

Bavarian, The Bold. See Charles 

Albert 
Belgium. See Netherlands 
Belgrade, 25, 66, 67 
Belleisle, Count Charles Fouquet de 

(French Marshal), 78-9, 89, 94-5, 

107-8, 126, 130, 136-8 
Belvedere, Palace of, 196 
Benedict XIV, Pope, 86 
Berlin, 42, 81, 84, 166, 242, 245 

— Treaty of, 135, 136, 156 
Bernklau (or Barenklau), Austrian 

General, 132 
Blondel, musician, 195 
Boerhaave, medical reformer, 150, 

151, 205, 206, 333 
Bohemia, xiv, xvii, 18, 70, 71, 73, 

94, 108, 129, 134, 140-1, 148, 173, 

I7 8 . 2 33. 236-40, 247, 339, 340, 

347-50 

— Crown of, 102, 141 

— Electoral vote of, 76, 85, 158 
Bologna, 62 

Bomba (Ferdinand II of Naples), 

320 
Boscawen, naval commander, 245 
Bordogni, Faustina, singer, 213 
Botta, Marquis, 81, 82 
Botanical Garden of Vienna, 206 
Botzen, 282 
Bourbon, House of, xxiv, 78, 128, 

170, 227 
Bourbons of Spain, 7-9, 13, 28-9, 

143, 168, 227, 253 

— Alliance, 223, 230-2, 235, 244-5 
319, 321, 323, 348, 351 

Boys' Brigade, 211 



Braganza, House of, 264 
Brandenburg Electorate, 42, 43, 83, 
91, 242, 245, 317 

— Elector of, 43, 80, 158, 246 
Branicki, Grand-General of Poland, 

273, 274 
Breslau, 43, 106, 107, 129, 242, 243 

— Preliminaries of, 135 

— ■ Treaty of. See Treaty of Berlin 
Bright, J. F., Maria Theresa, 176, 
178, 179, 208 

— Joseph II, 335 

Browne, Count (Austrian Field- 
Marshal), 84, 167, 233, 235, 237, 
238 

Browning, Robert, 353 

Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel, Antony 
Ulric, Duke of, 10-11, 12 

— Ludwig Rudolf, Hereditary Prince 
of, IO-II 

— Hereditary Princess of, 10-11 

— Elizabeth Christina, Princess of. 
See Elizabeth Christina, Empress 

— Charles, Duke of, 242 

— Elizabeth, Princess of, 264, 271, 
272 

Brunswick-Bevern, Ferdinand, Duke 
of, 42 

— Elizabeth Christina, Princess, wife 
of Frederick the Great, 32, 42-43 

— Ferdinand, Prince of, 242, 245 
Brussels, 35, 121, 145, 149-52, 191, 

225, 354 
Buda, University of, 334 
Burg, or Court, Theatre, 217, 328 
Burney, Dr. Charles, 212, 214, 216, 
218, 295 ; reference to his 
General History of Music, 213, and 
Present State of Music in Germany, 
212 
Bute, Lord, 246 



Caldara, musical composer, 22, 213, 

215, 216 
Cambridge, 41 
Canada, 167, 228-9, 245 
Cape Breton, 167, 168 
Capuchin Church, Vienna, 311, 354 
Cardinal's Masterpiece, The, or The 

Raree Show from Prague, 130, 131 
Carpathians, 194 
Carinthia, 61 
Carlos, Don. See Charles III of 

Spain 
Carlyle, Thomas. See Frederick the 

Great 
Caroline of Anspach, 9, 10, 30, 39 
Cartagena, 280 
Carteret, Lord, 135 



INDEX 



373 



Catherine II, Czarina, 246, 273, 303, 

304, 315-18, 350-2 
Camposanto, Battle of, 139 
Censorship of the Press, 198, 209, 

210, 293 
Chablais, Duke de, son of King of 

Sardinia, 258, 281, 298, 304, 326 
Chanceries of Austria and Bohemia, 

177 
Charlemagne, Emperor, xiii, 163, 

269, 329 
Charles II of England, xxiv 
Charles II of Spain, xxi, xxiii, xxiv, 7 
Charles III of Spain, 29, 30, 37, 47- 

50, 88, 139, 244, 266, 272, 279, 

305, 322, 331, 335 

Charles V, Emperor, xix-xxi, xxiii, 

49, 361 

Charles VI, Emperor, 171 1-40 (father 
of Maria Theresa) ; as pretender 
to the Crown of Spain, 3, 7-9 ; 
succeeds to the Habsburg terri- 
tories and the Empire, 3, 13 ; his 
marriage, 9-13 ; his relations with 
Frederick William I of Prussia, 
30-2, 42 ; with Hungary, 26 ; 
and the Pragmatic Sanction, 14- 
15, 20-21, 29, 37, 51, 58 ; and the 
Vienna Treaties, 28-30 ; and the 
Ostend East India Company, 29, 
37 ; his last war with Turkey, 60- 
61, 65-7 ; his death, 69 

Charles VII. See Charles Albert of 
Bavaria 

Charles, Archduke, second son of 
Maria Theresa, 154, 181, 185, 187, 
244, 249, 256 

Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, 3, 17 

Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria ; 
marriage, 21, 49 ; claims the 
Habsburg inheritance, 77-8 ; his 
relations with France, 51, 88-9, 
94 ; invades Austria, 108 ; crowned 
King of Bohemia and Emperor 
Charles VII, 130; misfortunes, 132 ; 
exiled in Frankfort, 132 ; returns 
to Bavaria, 137 ; is defeated by 
Austria, 140-2 ; in alliance with 
Prussia, 148; his death, 154; 162, 
276 

Charles Alexander, Prince of Lor- 
raine (brother of Francis I), 35, 58, 
59, 61, 63, 69 ; becomes Austrian 
Field-Marshal, 73 ; takes com- 
mand of the army, 132 ; his 
victory at Simbach, 140 ; his 
marriage, 143 ; his defeats, 156, 
158, 166-7, 238, 243 ; Governor 
of the Netherlands, 191 ; at 
Innsbruck, 281, 284 ; his death, 
353 



Charles Emmanuel, King of Sar- 
dinia, 49, 51, 59, 65, 126, 139, 168, 
169 

Charles Philip, Elector Palatine, 30, 
80 

Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine, 
158, 161, 263, 320, 347, 348, 350 

Charlotte, Princess of Lorraine 
(younger sister of Francis I), 65, 
191, 192, 281, 284, 353 

Chastity Commission, 221 

Chesterfield, Lord, 37, 38 

Choiseul, Due de, 340 

Chotek, Count Rudolf, 178 

Chotusitz, Battle of, 134, 135 

Church of St. Charles Borromeo, or 
Karlskirche, 196, 197 

Church of St. Peter, 196 

Clinical teaching, 205 

Clement, Prince of Saxony, 248, 251, 
281 

Cobenzel, Count John Caspar, 19 

Conference (or Cabinet), 52 ; meet- 
ings of, 72, 73, 183 ; Ministers of, 
io 9, J73. 174, 176, 183, 222 

Cologne, Archbishopric of, 351 

— Elector of, 80, 156, 271, 272, 350 

Commercy, 59 

Conrad III, Emperor, 195 

Consuelo (George Sand), 341 

Council of State, 288-9 

Counter-Reformation, xxii, 44, 334 

Cornaro, L., reference to his Sure 
and Certain Methods of Attaining 
a Long and Healthy Life, 340 

Cracow, 318 

Cricket Players of Europe, The, 241, 
242, 245 

Coxe, W., quotations from his 
History of the House of Austria, 
116, 138, 157, 161, 169, 227, 239 

Crusades, 194, 195 

Culloden, Battle of, 167 

Cumberland, Duke of, 236, 240 

Ciistrin, 42 



D 



Damenstift at Prague, 192, 297-8 

— at Innsbruck, 287, 326 
Danube, River, 95, 96, 108, 126, 137, 

164, 189, 194, 212, 295, 350 

— Valley of, 132, 260 
Danzig, 47 

Daughters of Joseph I, 14, 21, 49, 78, 
Appendix I 

Daun, Count Leopold, Austrian 
Field-Marshal, 191, 209, 237, 239, 
240, 243-5, 288, 291, 292, 360 

Dauphin, The. See Louis XVI 

Dettingen, Battle of, 142, 144, 156 



374 



MARIA THERESA 



Der Graf von Hapsburg (F. Schiller), 

xvi, 212 
Devonshire, Duke of, 41 
Diet, Hungarian (of 1741), 93, 97-9, 

109-16 ; (of 1 751) 179 ; (of 

1764-5) 300 

— Imperial, 88, 225, 235, 348 
Diogenes' Rambles, by Dennis Coet- 

logan, 128 
Directorium, 177 
Dnieper, River, 317 
Doran, J., Mann, and Manners in 

Florence, 224 
Dresden, 166, 216, 237, 273 

— Treaty of, 166, 167, 172 
Du Barry, Madame, 323 
Duquesne, Governor of Canada, 229 

— Fort, 229, 247 
Du Tillot, 322 

Dwarfs, a feature of the Court of 

Charles VI, 40, 193 
Dwina, River, 317 



East India Company (British), 245 

(French), 245 

(Ostend), 29, 37 

Elbe, River, 237 

Electoral College, xvi-xix, 75, 89, 
126, 130, 156, 158, 263, 266, 269 

Electors. See Electoral College 

Eleonora of Neuburg, wife of Leo- 
pold I, 5, 6 

Elizabeth, first child of Maria 
Theresa ; her birth, 60 ; her 
death, 67-8 

Elizabeth, Archduchess, d. of Maria 
Theresa, 181, 249, 277, 298, 302- 

4. 3°5. 3 11 -* 2 . 326, 333, 342, 
356, 357 

Elizabeth, Princess of Brunswick- 
Wolf enbiittel. See Brunswick 

Elizabeth Christina, Empress 
(mother of Maria Theresa), 1, 2, 

5, 10-15, 22, 23, 31, 44, 52, 55, 67, 
69, 86, 113, 121, 123, 125, 144, 
192, 193 

Elizabeth Christina, wife of Frederick 
the Great. See Brunswick 

Elizabeth Farnese, " the Termagant 
of Spain," second wife of Philip V, 
28-30, 36, 37, 47, 50, 58, 85, 128, 
139, 168 

Elizabeth, Czarina, 229-31, 233, 241- 
2, 246 

Elizabeth of Lorraine, Queen of Sar- 
dinia, 59, 65, 126 

Empire, Austrian, 337 

— Eastern, xix 

— Holy Roman, xv, xvii, xxiii, 36, 77, 



79, 88, 89, 94, 155, 158, 159, 161, 

203, 212, 228, 231, 247, 329, 348 ; 

Holy Roman Empire, by Bryce, xv 
Engel, Court physician, 150-3 
England, 36, 42, 133, 157, 203, 213, 

216, 225, 354. See also Great 

Britain. 
Erasmus, xxi 

Erizzo, Venetian Ambassador, 161 
Eugene, Prince, of Savoy, Austrian 

Field-Marshal, 8, 17, 24-6, 42, 48, 

58-9, 61, 66, 120, 121, 133, 196, 

243 
Europe, xxiv, 79, 117, 206, 228, 232, 

348-50 
— Cockpit of, xx 

Eurystheus, opera by Caldara, 213 
Enzenberg, Count, Governor of 

Tyrol, 279 
Enzenberg, Countess, 279, 280, 286, 

291, 298 
Esmond (W. M. Thackeray), 190 
Esterhazy, Joseph, Judex Curiae of 

Hungary, 98, no 
Esterhazy, Emerich, Primate of 

Hungary, 96, 100, 101, no, 116 



Favorita, Palace of, 67, 209 
Felbiger, Abbot of Sagan. (educa- 
tionalist), 336-7 
Ferdinand of Aragon, xx 
Ferdinand I, Emperor, xix-xxii, 78 
Ferdinand II, Emperor, xxi-xxii 
Ferdinand IV, of the Two Sicilies, 

259, 3° 6 - 3i°» 319 

Ferdinand, Archduke, fourth son of 
Maria Theresa, 249, 256, 297, 313, 
318, 319, 325, 342-5 

Ferdinand, Duke of Milan and 
Modena. See Ferdinand, Arch- 
duke 

Ferdinand VI of Spain, 28, 168 

Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, 320-2 

Ferdinand of Brunswick. See 
Brunswick-Be vern . 

Fielding, Henry, 210 

Fiume, seaport of, 300 

Fischer von Erlach, Emmanuel, 
architect, 196 

Fischer von Erlach, Bernard, archi- 
tect, 196 

Flanders. See Netherlands 

Fleury, Cardinal, 29, 51, 58, 77, 78, 
88-9, 130-1, 140 

Flood of 1744, 189 

Florence, 61-4, 224, 279, 283, 306, 
310, 346 ; commemorative arch of, 
64 

Fontenoy, Battle of, 156 



INDEX 



375 



Foreign Solutions of Poor Law 
Problems (E. Sellers), 219 

Foscarini, Venetian Envoy, 50 

France, the rival of Austria, xix, xx, 
xxiii, xxiv, and War of Polish Suc- 
cession, Chapter V, 47-52 ; Chap- 
ter VI, 57-8 ; and War of Austrian 
Succession, Chapters VII-IX, XI- 
XV ; and diplomatic revolution, 
Chapters XXI, XXII ; and Seven 
Years' War, Chapters XXII, 
XXIII ; and Poland, 303, 315 ; 
and War of Bavarian Succession, 
348, 35o 

— Francis I, Emperor (husband of 
Maria Theresa), becomes Heredi- 
tary Prince of Lorraine, 17 ; 
admitted to the Imperial House- 
hold, 18 ; succeeds to the Duchies 
of Lorraine and Bar, 27 ; his 
travels, Chapter IV ; becomes a 
Freemason, 38-9 ; Governor- 
General of Hungary, 43 ; forced 
to exchange Lorraine and Bar for 
Grand Duchy of Tuscany, 51-2, 
57-8 ; marriage, 55 ; in Italy, 
61-5 ; co-Regent with his wife in 
the Austrian Provinces and Bo- 
hemia, 75 ; co-Regent in Hungary, 
117; in War of Austrian Succes- 
sion, 130-3 ; in Prague, 141 ; 
elected Emperor, 158 ; coronation 
at Frankfort, 159-64 ; character, 
188-90 ; love of Schonbrunn, 
202 ; disapproval of the change of 
Alliances, 222 ; injudicious sup- 
port of his brother, 236 ; in 
private life, 248, 250, 257-9 ; his 
death, 283-5 

■ — Francis, son of Leopold of Tus- 
cany, 328 

— •Frankfort, 2, 89, 132, 137, 156-64, 
264, 266-70 

Frederick II (the Great), suggested 
as husband for Maria Theresa, 30, 
31 ; his imprisonment, 32 ; be- 
trothal to Elizabeth of Bruns- 
wick, 42-3 ; first campaign, 48 ; 
accession, 80-1 ; invades Silesia, 
83-4 ; and the War of the Aus- 
trian Succession, Chapters VIII, 
IX, XI, XIII, XIV, XV; and 
the Seven Years' War, Chapters 
XXII and XXIII ; and Poland, 
303-4, Chapter XXXI ; and the 
War of the Bavarian Succession, 
347-52 

Histoire de mon Temps, by 
Frederick the Great, quoted, 83, 
161, 179 

Frederick the Great, by Carlyle, 



quoted, 7, 9, 15, 147, 179. 237, 238, 

247. 359 
Frederick III, Emperor, xix, xx 
Frederick William I, King of Prussia, 

29-33, 41-3, 67, 82 
Frederick the Warlike. See Baben- 

berg 
— Prince of Wales, 39, 41 
Freemasonry, 38, 39 
French Revolution, 127, 172 
Fuchs, Countess von, 22, 55, 191, 

209 
Fux, Imperial Chapelmaster. 

Author of Gradus ad Parnassum, 

213, 215, 216 



Gaisman, composer, 215 
Galicia, Province of, 317-18, 339 
Ganganelli, Cardinal (Pope Clement 

XIV), 335 
Garda, Lake, 345 
Garibaldi, 128 
Genoa, 279, 282 
George I of England, 30 
George II of England, 30, 39-43, 77, 

90-1, 94-105, 107, 108, 126, 128, 

135, 142, 144, 156, 157, 165, 168, 

227, 229-30 
George III of England, 246, 312, 

345 
Geoff rin, Madame, 323 
Gentleman's Magazine, 41, 144 
Germany, Kingdom of, xv, xvii 

— Empire of. See Empire, Holy 
Roman 

Geschichte Maria Theresia's. See 

A. von Arneth 
Gibraltar, 9, 37 
Glatz, County of, 134, 135, 166, 232, 

246 
Gloucester, Duke of, 345 

— Duchess of, 345 

Gluck, C. W., Reformer of the Opera, 
composer of Artaxerxes, Orpheus 
and Eurydice, and Alceste, 215-17 

Goethe, J. W. von. See Aus 
meinem Leben 

Golden Fleece, Order of, 9, 76, 86, 
146 

Goldsmith, Oliver, 361 

Gordon Riots, 354 

Gotter, Count, 82 

Grafton, Duke of, 41 

Grand Alliance, 8, 9, 135 

Gratz, 113, 125 

Great Britain, xxiv, 7, 29, 37, 81, 90, 
167, 169, 348 ; and Seven Years' 
War, Chapters XXII and XXIII. 
See also Maritime Powers 



376 



MARIA THERESA 



Greeks, 200 
Grimani, Pietro, 4, 5 
Gross Jagerndorf, Battle of, 242 
Gulliver's Travels (Swift), 12 
Guntram, Count of Alsace and 
Breisgau, xiii, xiv 

H 

Habsburg, House of, xiii-xxiv, 32, 48, 
161, 181, 193, 195, 266 

— Origin of name, xiv 

— lip, xix, 12, 44 

Hadik, Hungarian General, 242 
Haen, Antony de, medical reformer, 

205 ; his antipathy to preventive 

inoculation, 205, 261, 312, 334 
Hague, The, 36, 38, 205 
Hamburg, 216 
Hamilton, Lady, 320 
Hanover, Electorate of, 90, 91, 94, 

108, 126, 128, 137, 229, 231, 235, 

236, 242, 245 

— Convention of, 157, 165-7 

— Elector of. See George II of 
England 

Harrington, Lord, 104 

Hasse, composer of opera Egeria, 

213, 214, 216 
Haugwitz, Count, administrative re- 
former, 174-8, 207, 209, 288, 291, 
33°, 339, 360 
Hawke, naval commander, 168, 245 
Haydn, Joseph, " The Father of the 

Symphony," 215, 217 
Heidelberg, 160, 164 
Henry III, King of England, xv 
Henry VIII of England, 227 
Henry the Fowler, xiv 
Henry, Prince of Prussia, 347 
Herzelle, Marquise d', 327, 328 
Hetzendorf, 313 

Hieronymus, Caroline von, 183, 346 
Hildebrand, Lucas von, architect, 

196 
Hindustan. See India 
Histoire de mon Temps. See Fre- 
derick the Great 
History of Germany, 1715-1815 (C. T. 
Atkinson), 14-15, 139, 147, 170, 
178, 223, 240 
Hochkirch, Battle of, 244, 291 
Hofburg, The, 1, 67, 75, 86, 131, 145, 
152, 196, 209, 298, 302, 329, 342, 
346 
Hohenfriedberg, Battle of, 156 
Hohenlohe, Prince Joseph of, 351 
Hohenzollern, Frederick of, xvi 

— House of, 84 

Holbein, painter of the Madonna of 
the Meyer Family, 219 



Holland, xxiv, 7, 36, 37, 41, 77, 137, 
167-9, 203, 223, 333, 354. See 
also Maritime Powers 

Hubertsburg, Congress of, 246 

— Treaty of, 247, 263 

Hungary and the Hungarians, xiv, 
xvi, xx-xxi, 24-7, 43, 71, 73, 89, 148, 
170-7, 178, 294, 300, 356 ; Maria 
Theresa's appeal to, 1 12-17 

Hungarian Diet of 1741, 93-102, 
Chapter IX, 299 

1751, 179, 299, 300 

1764-5. 299, 301 

— Bodyguard, 299 

— Crown, 93, 99, 100-102, 115, 171 
Hungary in the Eighteenth Century 

(Marczali), 300-301 
Husarenritt, The. See Hadik 
Hyde Park, 295 
Hyndford, Lord, 95, 104, 107, 129, 

135 



India, 167, 232, 247 

Ingenhouse, John, physician, 312-13 

Ingolstadt, 132 

Inn, River, 350 

Innsbruck, xix, 65, 279-85, 287, 311, 

326; commemorative arch at, 280, 

282 
Inoculation, Preventive, 205, 312-13, 

334 

Insurrectio Generalis, 114 

Isabella, elder daughter of Philip of 
Parma and first wife of Joseph II. 
Her personal charm, 252-3 ; her 
exceptional culture, 252 ; her 
musical talent, 253 ; her marriage 
to the Archduke Joseph, 253 ; her 
friendship with Marie Christine, 
253-5 ; her devotion to Maria 
Theresa, 256, 257 ; birth of her 
daughter, 255 ; her presentiment 
of early death, 253, 254, 260 ; its 
fulfilment, 261 

Isabella of Castile, xx 

Italy, 8-9, 47-48, 64, 94, 138-9, 143, 
167-8, 225, 227, 346 

— Music of, 213-16 

Ivan IV, Czar, 77 



Jacobites, 147, 157, 167 

Jacquin, Nicholas, botanist, 206 

Jamaica, 228 

James II of England, xxiv 

" Jenkins' Ear," 81 

Jesuits, xxii, 203, 204, 207-11 

— Suppression of, 314, 334-7 

Jews, 140, 141, 294 



INDEX 



377 



Joanna of Aragon, xix, xx 

Joanna, Archduchess, 249, 259-60, 

305, 3". 3 J 9 

Johnson, A. H. See Age of the En- 
lightened Despot 

Johnson, Dr., 154, 361 

Joseph I, Emperor, 2, 3, 8, 14, 26, 
78, 86, 92, 202 

Joseph II, Emperor (eldest son of 
Maria Theresa) . His birth, 86, 91-2; 
at Pressburg, n 7-1 8; education, 
186-7; l° ve 01 music, 214; attack 
of smallpox, 236-7 ; betrothal to 
Isabella of Parma, 244 ; marriage, 
251-3; home-life, 254-5; grief for 
Isabella's death, 261-2 ; crowned 
King of the Romans, Chapter 
XXV ; second marriage of, Chapter 
XXVI ; becomes Emperor, 285 ; 
co - Regent, Chapters XXVIII, 
XXXIII, 326-7, 339; and his 
sister Josepha, 305, 310-11 ; and 
the First Partition of Poland, 
Chapter XXI ; and his daughter, 
327-8, 333 note ; his designs on 
Bavaria, 347-50; visit to Russia, 
351-2 ; in Maria Theresa's last ill- 
ness, Chapter XXXVI 

Josepha, Empress, second wife of 
Joseph II, 263, 268, 273, 275-8, 
279, 280, 285, 305, 307-8, 333-4 

— Princess of Bavaria. See Josepha, 
Empress 

— Archduchess (daughter of Maria 
Theresa), 249, 305, 306, 310-11, 319 

Julich and Berg, Duchies, 30, 31, 
80, 107 

K 

Kaunitz, Count Max Ulric von, 224 

Kaunitz, Count (after 1762 Prince) 
Wenzel Anton von, 87, 145-6, 
149-51, 168, 169, 202, Chapters 
XXI, XXII, 229-36, 244, 246, 
265, 273, 287, 289, 315-18, 319, 
321, 335. 33 8 -4°, 349, 356, 360 

Kepler, John, xxii 

Kesselsdorf, Battle of, 166 

Khevenhiiller, L. A. von, Austrian 
Field-Marshal, 125-6, 131-3, 137, 
142, 146, 360 

Kinsky, Count, 39, 41 

Klein-Schnellendorf, Convention of, 
129, 133 

Klopstock, F. G., 360 

Knox, John, 337 

Kolin, Battle of, 239, 240, 291 

Konigsegg, Marshal, 6f 

Kunigunda, Princess of Saxony, 263, 
265, 274-5 

Kunersdorf, Battle of, 245 



Lacy, Austrian Field-Marshal, 235, 
244, 288, 292, 315, 346 

Laudon, Gideon, Austrian Field- 
Marshal, 243-5, 288, 292, 347, 
349, 360 

Laxenburg, 67, 251, 343, 344 

Leo III, Pope, xiii 

Leopold I, Emperor, xxiii, xxiv, 3, 
7-8, 14, 24, 202, 212 

Leopold, Archduke, son of Charles 
VI, 1-2, 4 

Leopold, Archduke, third son of 
Maria Theresa, 181, 187, 214, 249, 
256, 265, 266, 289-91, Chapter 
XXVII, 310, 319, 328, 345, 351 

Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany. 
See Leopold, Archduke 

Leopold, Duke of Austria. See 
Babenberg 

Leopold, Margrave of Austria. See 
Babenberg 

Lerchenfeld, Countess, 306 

L'Europe et le Revolution Francaise 
(A. Sorel), 127 

Leszczynski, Stanislaus, 47, 51, 57, 62 

Leuthen, Battle of, 242, 243 

Leyden, 150, 151, 203, 225 

Liechtenstein, Prince Anton Florian, 

5 

Liechtenstein, Prince Wenzel, Aus- 
trian Field-Marshal, 167, 177-8, 
251-2, 33°, 360 

Library, Imperial, 196, 203, 204, 209. 

Linz, 8, 108, 126, 132, 133 

Lisbon, 8, 9, 120 

Lise-Lotte, Duchess of Orleans, xxiv 

Lobkowitz, Bohemian General, 138, 
146, 215 

Lobositz, Battle of, 233, 235 

Lohengrin, xiv 

Lombardy, 108, 139, 168, 178 

London, 36, 133, 200, 295, 354 

— Great Fire of, 196 
Longfellow, H. W., The Beleaguered 

City, 238 
Lorraine, xxiv, 34-6, 47, 51, 52, 57, 
58, 143, 148, 191 

— House of, 18, 55, 181 

— Duke of, Charles, iv, 3,17, 24, 26 

— Duke of, Leopold, xxiv, 17, 19, 27, 

34 
■ — Duke of, Francis Stephen. See 
Francis I, Emperor 

— Dowager Duchess of, 35, 59, 65, 
127, 152 

— Prince Charles of. See Charles 
Alexander 

— Princess Charles of. See Marianne 
d. of Charles VI 



378 



MARIA THERESA 



Lorraine, Princess Charlotte of. See 
Charlotte 

— Clement, Prince of, 17 

Louis XIV of France, xxiii, xxiv, 2, 
7. 24, 243 

Louis XV, 28, 35, 47, 51, 8g, 95, 
136, 138, 140, 147, 168, 224, 229, 
231-5, 241, 244-5, 252, 313, 322 

Louis XVI, 322, 324 

Louis, King of Hungary and Bohe- 
mia, xx 

Louise, Princess of Parma, wife of 
Charles IV of Spain, 272, 282 

Louisiana, Colony of, 228 

Louvain, University of, 151 

Low Countries. See Netherlands 

Loyola, Ignatius, 207 

Luneville, 35, 59 

Luther, Martin, 212 

Luxemburg, 36, 89, 132 

M 

Machiavelli, 210 

Madras, 168 

Madrid, 7, 272, 282 

Magdeburg, 91 

Magyars. See Hungary and the 
Hungarians 

Maillebois, French General, 108, 137 

Maine, River, 2, 142, 160 

Marchfeld, Battle of, xvii 

Marcus Aurelius, Emperor, xv 

Maria Amelia, d. of Joseph I and 
wife of Charles VII, 21, 49, 78, 182 

Maria Amelia, d. 'of Charles VI, 20, 
213 

Maria Amelia, d. of Maria Theresa. 
See Amelia, Archduchess 

Marianne, Archduchess, d. of 
Charles VI, 15, 22, 48, 59, 65, 68, 
92, 213, m. to Prince Charles of 
Lorraine, 143-5 ; her illness and 
death, Chapter XIII 

Marianne, Archduchess, d. of Maria 
Theresa, 6i, 62, 92, 123, 181, 185-6, 
192, 208, 214, 249, 277, 281, 
297-8, 325, 333, 342, 356, 357 

Maria Antonia, Electress of Saxony, 
234, 273, 275 

Maria Josepha, d. of Joseph I, wife of 
Elector- King of Saxony-Poland, 
21, 248 

Maria Theresa of Spain, wife of 
Louis XIV, xxiii 

Maria Theresa of Austria, d. of 
Charles VI ; her birth, 4 ; childhood, 
15-28 ; education, 22, 213 ; sug- 
gested husbands for, 28-32, 49 ; 
appearance, in youth, 44 ; in 
middle life, 182 ; in later life, 
329 ; development of character. 



44-5 ; betrothal to Francis of 
Lorraine, 52 ; marriage, 55 ; as 
Duchess of Lorraine, 57-60 ; Grand 
Duchess of Tuscany, 60-9 ; visit 
of, to Italy, 61-5 ; by virtue of 
Pragmatic Sanction succeeds as 
Queen of Hungary and Bohemia 
and reigning Archduchess of Aus- 
tria, 71 ; attacked by Frederick of 
Prussia, 83 ; birth of her eldest 
son, 86 ; attacked by Bavaria, 106 ; 
by France and Saxony, 108; de- 
feat of her army at Mollwitz> 
and her appeal to the Hungarian 
Diet, 1 1 2-1 7; determined stand 
for her rights, 127 ; British en- 
thusiasm for, 128 ; her enemies 
repulsed by Khevenhiiller and 
Traun, 131-46, 147-9 ; death of 
her only sister, 152 ; brings about 
her husband's election as Em- 
peror, 153-6 ; present at his 
coronation in Frankfort, 160-4 ; 
her detestation of Treaty of Aix- 
la-Chapelle, 168-9 I her standing 
at the end of the war, 169-71 ; 
family relationships and social 
environment, Chapters XVII, 
XXIV ; her association with the ad- 
ministrative reforms of Haugwitz, 
172-86, and with the educational 
reforms of van Swieten, Felbiger, 
and others, 202-n, 334-7 ; con- 
cern for the social reform of the 
Court and capital, 218-21 ; ad- 
miration for Kaunitz, 225-7, 
and confidence in his advice, 287, 
3*8, 339 ; during the Seven Years' 
War, Chapters XXII, XXIII ; her 
share in the tragedy of Joseph's 
second marriage, 264-66, 271-5 ; 
death of her husband, 283 ; co- 
Regent with Joseph, 288; their 
differences of opinion, 292-5, 326- 
7 ; her attack of smallpox, 307-9 ; 
advocates inoculation, 312 ; de- 
cides the future of her daughters, 
Chapters XXIX, XXXIII; op- 
poses Partition of Poland, 314-18 ; 
as a letter- writer, 342-7 ; condemns 
War of Bavarian Succession, 347- 
50; her illness and death, 353-8; 
character of, 359-61 

Maria Theresa, Archduchess, d. of 
Joseph II, 255, 277, 313, 327-8 

Maria Theresa, Princess of Modena, 

345 
Marie Antoinette, Archduchess, d. 
of Maria Theresa, 188, 208, 249, 
259, 261, 281, 319, 322-4, 325, 331, 
343- 35i 



INDEX 



379 



Marie Beatrix d'Este, Princess of 
Modena, wife of Archduke Ferdi- 
nand, 256, 319, 327, 343-5, 353 

Marie Caroline, Archduchess, d. of 
Maria Theresa, 220, 249, 319-20, 
322, 331 

Marie Christine (Archduchess Marie), 
d. of Maria Theresa, 181, 186, 188, 
192, 208, 214, 237 ; introduction 
to Prince Albert of Saxony, 249- 
50 ; friendship with Isabella of 
Parma, 253-8, 261, 265, 276, 277 ; 
reluctance to meet the Duke de 
Chablais, 281 ; betrothal to Prince 
Albert, 299 ; marriage, 301 ; 
Maria Theresa's partiality for, 302, 
326 ; her illness, 307, 309 ; quota- 
tions from Maria Theresa's letters 
to, 302, 311, 320, 346; 353-7 

Marie Louise of Savoy, first wife of 
Philip V of Spain, 9 

Marie Louise, Princess of the Two 
Sicilies and Infanta of Spain, wife 
of Archduke Leopold, 244, 256, 
. 265-6, 279-82, 343 

Mariazell, 57, 310 

Maritime Powers, 30, 36, 37, 48, 90, 
128, 143, 157, 167, 222, 223, 227. 
See also Great Britain and Hol- 
land 

Marlborough, Duke of, 8, 12 

Martini, Karl Anton von, Professor 
of Roman Law, 207, 288 

Matthias, Emperor, xxii 

Maxen, Battle of, 245, 291 

Maximilian I, Emperor, xix, xx 

Maximilian II, Emperor, xxi, xxii 

Maximilian, Archduke, son of Maria 
Theresa, 249, 297, 313, 326, 333, 

350-51, 353. 356, 357 
Maximilian Joseph, Hereditary 

Prince of Bavaria, 49 ; Elector, 

155, 164, 263, 268, 320, 347 
Mayence, Elector of, 43, 163 
Medici Rulers of Tuscany, 52 
Medici, Maria de', 63 
Memoirs of the Courts of Europe 

(Sir H. Swinburne), 198, 339-40, 

35 1 
Mercy-Argenteau, Count Florimond 

de, 252, 324, 360 
Metastasio, Pietro, Poet Laureate, 

213, 214, 216 
Milan, Duchy of, 8, 256, 319, 343 
— City of, 64, 65, 215 
Military Academy at Wiener -Neu- 

stadt, 180, 208 
Minden, Battle of, 245 
Modena, Duchy of, 246, 343 
Moldau, River, 140 
Mollwitz, Battle of, 88, 90, 94, 134 



Mons, 192 

Montagu, Edward Wortley, 1 

Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, 1, 
220, 221, 250, 312 ; Letters of, 
quoted, 1-2, 6, n-12, 16, 23, 40, 
96, 120, 121, 184, 198-9 

Moravia, xxii, 73, 108, 129, 134, 

339. 354 
Mozart, Ludwig, 258, 259 
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 258, 

259 
Munich, 89, 132, 137, 140, 258 
Municipal Hospital, 204 
Munster Cathedral, 224 

— Bishopric of, 351 

N 

Nancy, 27, 59, 62 

Nantes, Edict of, xxiv 

Naples, xx, 29, 48, 139, 167, 179, 
306, 310, 311, 322, 342. See also 
Two Sicilies 

Naples, Queen of. See Marie Caro- 
line 

Napoleon I, xix, 138, 172 

National Theatre, 218 

Neipperg, Baron von, Austrian 
General, 19, 36, 39, 66, 74, 84, 93, 
108, 129, 131, 132, 250 note 

Netherlands, Spanish, xx, xxiii, xxiv, 

7 

— Austrian, 9, 35, 59, 60, 89, 105, 
121, 144, 156, 157, 167, 168, 178, 
191, 223, 227, 231, 232, 350, 354 

— Governors of, 144, 191, 301, 350, 

354 
New York, 198 
Nuremberg, 160 
Nymphenburg, Treaty of, 94 



Oesterreich. See Austria 

Ohio, River, 228, 229 

Olmutz, 134, 244 

Opera, The (R. A. Streatfeild), 216, 

217 
Order of Golden Fleece, q.v. 

— of Theresa, 239, 288 

— of St. Stephen, 288, 299-300 
Oriental Academy, 209 
Orleans, Duke of, xxiv 
Orleans, Regent of France, 17, 190 
Ostmark. See Austria 

Otto the Great, Emperor, xiv, xv 
Ottocar, King-Elector of Bohemia, 
xvi, xvii 

P 

Pacific Ocean, 228 

Palatinate (Rhine), xxiv, 347, 373 



38o 



MARIA THERESA 



Palatine, Elector. See Charles Philip 

and Charles Theodore 
Palermo, 47 
Palfly, John, Palatine of Hungary, 

25-7, 68, 73, 92, 98, 100, no, 114, 

116 
Paracelsus, xxii 
Parhamer, Ignatius, 210, 211 
Paris, 200, 216, 223, 225, 342 

— Peace of, 247 

Parma, 170, 179, 252, 253, 282, 320- 
22, 343 

— and Piacenza, 29, 37, 48, 168 
Parma, Philip of (Don Philip of 

Spain), 29, 48, 58, 85, 139-4°. 

168, 244, 252, 261, 264, 274-6, 

282, 321 
Passau, 106, 108, 132, 160 
Pelham, Thomas, Duke of Newcastle, 

39 
Peter III, Czar, 246 
Peterborough, Lord, 8 
Peterwardein, Battle of, 120 
Petronell, 96 
Philip I of Spain, xix, xx 
Philip of Burgundy. See Philip I of 

Spain 
Philip the Handsome. See Philip I 

of Spain 
Philip IV of Spain, xxiii 
Philip V of Spain, 7-9, 28, 36, 37, 51, 

128, 139, 147 
Philip, Don. See Philip of Parma 
Philipsruhe, 160 
Pichler, Caroline, nee von Greiner, 

346 
Pittsburg, 247 

Pitt, William, the Elder, 242, 246, 247 
Pitti Palace, 62 
Podewils, Prussian Minister, 107, 

135 
Poland, xvi, 3, 47, 84, ill, 232, 273-4, 
302-4 

— Crown of, 51 

— First Partition of, 314-18 
Pompadour, Madame de, 227, 231, 

234-5 
Poniatowski, Stanislaus, 273-4, 3°2- 

4, 323 
Porpora, composer and teacher of 

music, 216 
Porte. See Turkey 
Portugal, 8, 120, 334 
Portugal, Prince of, 120 
Portugal, Princess Benedicta of, 263- 

4. 265 
Pozsony. See Pressburg 
Pragmatic Sanction, 14-15, 20-21, 

26, 29, 37, 45, 47, 49, 5i» 64» 72, 

75, 77. 79, 88, 155, 170, 360 
Prague, xxii, 18, 129-30, 131, 134, 



137-8, 140-2, 148, 160, 166, 192, 

233. 237-4°. 247. 297. 298 

— Battle of, 238 
Prater, The, 295, 296 
Pressburg, 44, 45, 53, 93, 95-7, 100, 

103, 106, 113, 117, 148, 170, 281, 

299. 3°i. 3° 2 , 3°°> 3°7. 354 
Pringle, Sir William, physician, 312 
Protestants, xxi, xxii, 70, 84, 294 
Prussia, xvi, 29-33, 4 2 . 77. 79, 81-5, 
87, 89-95, IQ 8» IJ1 > I2 6, 148, 157-8, 
166, 170, 173, 222-3; Chapters 
XXII, XXIII, 265, 3°3-4. 315-17. 
347-5° 

— East, 84, 231, 317 

— West, 84, 303 

Q 

Quebec, capture of, 245 



R 

Raab, 113 

Ratisbon, 160, 225 

Reformation, xxi 

Reutter, composer and choirmaster 

of St. Stephen's Cathedral, 215, 217 
Rhine, xxii, 34, 81, 147-8 
Richard, Duke of Cornwall, xv, xvii 
Richard I of England, 195 
Riegger, Paul, professor of Canon 

Law, 207 
Robinson, Sir Thomas, 49-52, 55-8, 

70-2, 76, 77, 84, 90, 91, 95, 101, 

103-7, 112, 143, 157, 169, 214, 222 
Rodolphine Tables, xxii 
Romans, King of the, xv, 43, 67, 158, 

227, 246 

— Joseph, King of the. See Joseph 
II, Emperor 

— Queen of the. See Josepha, 
Empress 

Rome, xiii, xv, 24, 335 

Rossbach, Battle of, 242, 244 

Rousseau, J. J., 210, 345 

Royal Society, 41, 312 

Rudolf of Habsburg, Emperor, xv- 

xviii, 195, 212 
Rudolf II, Emperor, xxii 
Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, 195 
Rudolf V, first Archduke of Austria, 

xviii 
Russia, 47, 60, 77, 126, 156, 166, 

223, 229-30, 232, 242-5, 273-4, 

3°3-4, 3I5-3I8, 35°-2 
Ryswick, Peace of, xxiv 



Salza, River, 350 
Salzburg, 258 



INDEX 



38i 



Sand, George. See Consuelo 
Sardinia, xx, 47, 77, 126, 143, 166-9, 
298 

— King of. See Charles Emmanuel 

— Queen of, 59, 65, 126 

Saxe, Count Maurice de, 130, 156 

— Teschen, Duke of. See Albert of 
Saxony 

Saxony, 48, 85, 89, 91, 108, 129, 134, 

166, 231, 233-5, 241, 246, 247, 

265 
Schiller, Friedrich. See Der Graf 

von Hapsburg 
Schonbrunn, Palace of, 181, 192, 

194, 202, 249, 259, 276, 313, 323, 

343, 346-7, 354 
Schools, Primary, 336-7 

— Secondary, 335-6 

Schwerin, von, Prussian Field-Mar- 
shal, 90, 237, 238, 240 

Scotland, 337 

Sea Powers. See Maritime Powers 

Seckendorf, Count, 30, 31 

Sellers, E. See Foreign Solutions of 
Poor Law Problems 

Servia, 67, 179 

Seville, Treaty of, 37, 48 

Shakespeare's Hamlet and Measure 
for Measure, 220 

Sicily, xxi, 8 

Steele de Louis Quinze (Voltaire), 
117 

Siena, 63 

Silesia, 43, 73, 81-4, 89-95, io 5 _ 8, 
126, 134, 135, 149, 156-8, 166-70, 
172, 174, 179, 223, 231, 232, 242, 
243, 246, 303, 315, 340, 347 

— Upper, 108 

— Lower, 129 

Silva-Tarouca, Count Emanuel, 76, 
119-24, 145, 146, 151, 175, 182, 
184, 203, 260, 263, 286, 291-2, 
324, 330-1 
Simbach, Battle of, 140, 141 
Sinzendorf, Chancellor, 53, 79, 103 
Smallpox, 185, 191, 205, 236-7, 260, 

Z°7-?-3> 329, 339 

— Deaths from, 2, 17, 225, 256, 261, 
282, 308, 311 

Sobieski, John, King of Poland, 3 
Soissons, Congress of, 30, 37 
Sohr, Battle of, 158, 161 
Sonnenfels, Joseph von, jurist, 207 ; 

his denunciation of legal torture, 

338 ; its abolition, 339 
Sophia Charlotte, Queen of Prussia, 

3° 
Spain, xx, xxi, xxiii-xxiv, 3, 7-9, 13, 

28-31, 36-7, 47-8, 69, 81, 94, 139, 

156, 169, 227, 334 
Spandau, 43 



Spinola, Papal Nuncio, 4, 5 

St. Joseph, 85, 86, 305 

St. Martin, Cathedral of, 99-101 

St. Petersburg, Court of, 348, 351, 

- 352 

Convention of, 231 

Treaty of, 318 

St. Stephen of Hungary, 300 ; mantle 

of, 100, 101 ; sword of, 101 
Crown of. See Hungarian 

Crown 
St. Stephen's Cathedral, 3, 4, I95~7» 

281, 309 
St. Theresa, 85 
Stair, Lord, 137 
Stanhope, John, 38 
Stanhope, Philip. See Chesterfield 
Starhemberg, Finance Minister, 32, 

69, 103 
Starhemberg, Ambassador to Court 

of Versailles, 227, 231, 235, 360 
Storck, Dr. Anton, 355, 357 
Streatfeild, R. A. See The Opera 
Strehlen, 94 
Stuart, James Francis, son of James 

II, 8 
Styria, xix, 14 
Sweden, 126, 232, 240 
Swinburne, Sir Henry. See Memoirs 

of the Courts of Europe 
Swieten, Gerard van, Court physician 

and medical reformer, 150-3, 181, 

185, 202-10, 236-7, 261, 312, 330, 

332-4. 336, 339. 355. 360 



" Tables Turned, The," 136, 138, 

139 

Tannhauser, 195 

Tell, William, xviii 

"Ten Years' Recess," 176, 216 

Teplitz, 275 

" Termagant of Spain, The." See 
Elizabeth Farnese. 

Teschen, Duchy of, 135, 290, 301 

— Peace of, 350 

Teutonic Order, The, 350 

Thackeray, W. M. See Esmond 

Theresa, Archduchess, d. of Joseph 
II. See Maria Theresa 

Theresianum, The, 209, 333, 335 

Thurn, Count, 282 

Thurn, Countess, 5, 16 

Traun, Count, Austrian Field-Mar- 
shal, 96, 108, 112, 139, 146-9, 
156, 158. 360 

Trautson, Archbishop of Vienna^ 
207, 209 

Trenck, Baron Francis von, 93 

Trenck, Baron Frederick von, 93 



382 



MARIA THERESA 



Trent, 62 

Treves, Elector of, 80 

Turkey and the Turks, xviii, xix, 

xxiii, 3, 24-6, 60-61, 65-7, 70, 

73. 92, 93. 120, 196, 200, 202, 225, 

315. 316, 348 
Turin, 65, 126, 146, 225 
Tuscany, Grand Duchy of, 39, 51, 

58, 60-4, 154, 190, 256, 287, 291 
— Grand Duke of. See Francis I, 

Emperor, and Leopold, Archduke 
Two Sicilies, 48, 51, 244. See also 

Naples 
Tyrol, County of, xviii, 61, 65, 73, 

132, 279-85, 287, 350 

U 

Ulfeld, Count, Austrian Chancellor, 

159, 226 
Ulm, 164 
University of Vienna, 195, 202-8, 

210, 333 

Leyden, 151, 203, 225 

Tyrnau, 334 

Urbarium, The, 300, 301 



Venice, State of, 62, 77 

Versailles, Court of, 35, 223, 244, 

323 

— First Treaty of, 231 

— Second Treaty of, 232, 235, 245 
Victoria, Queen, 119, 302, 360-61 
Vienna, Origin of, xv, xvii, xxii ; 1-4, 

44, 62, 65, 7°~7 I > 75. 92, 108, 
113; threatened by the Franco- 
Bavarian Army, 125-31, 133, 134, 
146; as Imperial capital, 164-5, 
181, 185, 189 ; in Eighteenth 
Century, 194-201 ; University of, 
203-7 » its theatres, 217-18 ; amuse- 
ments of populace, 218 ; Maria 
Theresa's social reforms in, 218- 
221, 239 ; Court of, 248-59 ; its 
chief park, 295, 309, 310 
Vindobona. See Vienna 
Vogelweide, Walter von der, 195 
Voltaire, 117, 210 

W 

Wagenseil, musical composer, 213 
Wallis, Austrian Field-Marshal, 65, 
66, 74, 146 



Walpole, Horace, 128, 154, 167, 238 
Walpole, Sir Robert, 29, 39, 48, 135 
War, Thirty Years', xxii-xxiii, 247 

— of Spanish Succession, 8-9, 12- 
13, 25, 29, 120 

Polish Succession, 47-9, 125 

Austrian Succession, 83, 84, 

Chapters VIII, IX, XI-XV passim 
Bavarian Succession, 347-50 

— Turkish, 60, 61, 65-7, 81 

— Seven Years', Chapters XXII and 
XXIII passim 

— First Silesian, 135 

— Second Silesian, 166 

— Third Silesian, 245 
Warsaw, 47, 233, 248, 273, 323 
Washington, George, 229 
Wends, Invasions of, xiv, 194 
Werner, Bishop of Strasburg, xiv 
Westminster, Convention of, 230, 

231 
West Indies, 36, 206, 228, 247 
Westphalia, Peace of, xxiii 
Whatley (author of Short account of 

a Journey to Tuscany, 1741), 63, 64 
Wien. See Vienna 
Wilhelmina, Margravine of Baireuth, 

30, 42, 154 
William of Orange, xxiv 
Williams, Sir Charles Hanbury, 182 
Windsor Castle, 8, 209 
Wittelsbach, House of, 266, 347 
Wolfe, General, 245 
Wolsey, Cardinal, 227 
Worms, Treaty of, 143, 147, 168 
Wraxall, Sir Nicholas, Memoirs of 

the Court of Vienna, by, 200, 296 
Wiilpelsberg, xiv 
Wurtemberg, Prince Louis of, 249, 

258 
Wiirzburg, 160 
Wusterhausen, Treaty of, 30 

X 

Xavier, Prince of Saxony, 274 
Xenophon, 138 



Zeno Apostolo, Italian poet, 213 
Zenta, Battle of, 24 
Zurich, xiv 

Zweibrucken, Charles, Duke of, 320- 
21, 348 



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